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CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANS. 



Order I. 

Genus L- 

+ Vitativeness. 

4- Alimentiveness. 

1. Destructiveness. 

2. Amativeness. 

3. Philoprogenitiveness. 

4. Adhesiveness. 



— Feelings. 

- Propensities. 



5. Inhabitiveness. 

6. Combativeness. 

7. Secretiveness. 

8. Acquisitiveness. 

9. Constructiveness. 



Genus II. — Sentiments. 



10. Cautiousness. 

11. Approbativeness. 

12. Self-esteem. 

13. Benevolence. 

14. Reverence. 

15. Firmness. 



16. Conscientiousness. 

17. Hope. 

18. Marvellousness. 

19. Ideality. 

20. Mirthfulness. 

21. Imitation. 



Order II. — Intellectual Faculties. 
Genus I. — External Senses. 



Feeling of Touch. 
Taste. 
Smell. 



Hearing. 
Sight. 



Genus II. 



Intellectual Faculties, which perceive the exisUnce of external 
Objects, and their physical Qualities. 



22. Individuality. 

23. Form. 

24. Size. 



25. Weight and Resistance. 

26. Color. 



Genus III. 

Intellectual Faculties, which perceive the physical Relations of 

Objects. 



27. Locality. 

28. Order. 

29. Number. 

30. Eventuality. 



31. Time. 

32. Tune. 

33. Language. 



Genus IV. — The Reflective Faculties. 
34. Comparison. | 35. Causality. 



PRACTICAL 



PHRENOLOGY. 



BY 



SILAS JONES. 

PRINCIPAL OF THE INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND. 

SECOND EDITION. 



NEW-YORK: 

SAMUEL COLMAN, 141 NASSAU-STREET. 
1839. 



BFS70 



PREFACE. 



Having been engaged in lecturing on the science of 
Phrenology more or less for some time past, in several 
States of the Union, and at the same time having made 
observations upon the character and organization of sev- 
eral thousands of individuals, principally of the middle and 
higher classes, I found myself in possession of so many 
facts, gathered under my own eye and fresh in recollec- 
tion, that I had seldom occasion to refer to the collections 
of others, however valuable they may be. When lec- 
turing, I always found the attention most profound, when I 
related what I had seen, and I soon found that time did not 
allow me to do even this, to the extent I could wish. I 
was frequently requested to publish a work on the subject. 
In consequence of this, I conceived the plan not of pub- 
lishing my facts ; but of preparing a little manual, which 
would assist those who might attend my Lectures, and 
serve as an outline of my course. But when engaged in 
the undertaking, I determined to add to it both facts for il- 
lustration, and the method of application of the science, 
which I had adopted in practice, by which those who wished 
might be aided in gathering facts for themselves. The 
volume of nature is the great book for study, and its pages 
are ever open. All that books can do is to assist in the inter- 
pretation of its language. The work will go to the public- 
less perfect than I could wish, notwithstanding the great 
labor I have bestowed, not only in its composition, but in 
attention to the cuts. I am aware, opinions are given with 
a directness and confidence which may appear like too great 
assurance. But it would be affectation to speak doubtingly 
of what one has the certain knowledge of ocular de- 
monstration. It would be a deference to doubters and unbe- 
lievers, which I am little inclined to manifest. True it is, 



Vlll PREFACE. 

many of the savans of this and other countries are not yet 
ready to avow themselves believers in Phrenology. The 
aged of this class are too much settled in their old opinions 
— too much interested in their continuance — and too little 
accustomed to observe nature, to lead us to expect much 
from them. But the young, ardent, and untrammelled* 
hail it with joy every where ; and the independent lover3 
of truth, among individuals of every pursuit, readily be- 
come its avowed friends and patrons. Teachers begin 
to look to it, as the science on which their art is founded, 
and in some instances it is adopted in schools, as one of the 
regular courses of study. So editors of periodicals invite 
its advocates to their columns, and opposition to it is less 
virulent and less respectable than formerly. On the whole, 
therefore, I do not know that it could be desired that its 
diffusion should be more rapid, for if it were, it would be 
eagerly seized by those who have little knowledge and 
less interest in it, for mere purposes of gain — a prostitu- 
tion of a lofty science, revolting to taste and correct prin- 
ciple. 

I will make no claims to originality. If any thing new be 
contained in the following pages, it will not escape the 
observation of the intelligent reader. The method adopt- 
ed is that of analysis and synthesis, analagous to the pres- 
ent most approved mode of acquiring a foreign language. 
This tends to keep out of view the common error, that in- 
dividual organs necessarily manifest distinct traits of char- 
acter. The individual is first viewed as a whole, then in 
reference to the several physical systems, as it regards 
proportion ; then in relation to the regions of the head ; 
and lastly, by a critical inspection of the organs. Then 
commences the synthesis, and inference of mental and 
moral manifestations. The mind then rests upon the in- 
dividual as a whole, manifesting traits of character, and 
not as exhibiting mere elementary principles, and the sci- 
ence appears to be in the most beautiful harmony with truth. 

S. J. 

Boston, Dec. 1, 1835, 



CONTENTS 



Page 

CHAPTER I. Introduction 13 

" II. First fundamental doctrine of Phrenology 

— the connexion between manifestation of 
mind and mental organs. ... 15 

III. Plurality of Mental Organs. ... 17 

IV. Relative Size of the Organs. ... 23 
V. Brief Anatomical View of the Human Brain. 25 

VI. Scull 32 

VII. The Doctrine of Proportion. . . 33 

VIII. Division of the Faculties. ... 36 

Order I. The Affective Faculties. . . 37 
Genus I. Propensities. .... 37 

Vitativeness. . . . . .37 

Alimentiveness. .... 39 

1. Destructiveness. . . . . .41 

2. Amativeness 44 

3. Philoprogenitiveness 46 

4. Adhesiveness 49 

5. Inhabitiveness 51 

6. Combativeness 53 

7. Secretiveness. ..... 56 

8. Acquisitiveness. .... 59 

9. Constructiveness 62 * 

Genus II. Sentiments 64 

10. Cautiousness. 64 

11. Approbativeness. ... 66 

12. Self-Esteem 68 

13. Benevolence 71 

14. Reverence. ...... 74 

15. Firmness 78 

16. Conscientiousness. . . . .80 

17. Hope 83 

18. Marvellousness 85 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

19. Ideality. ..... 89 

20. Mirthfulness 91 

21. Imitation 93 

Order II. Intellectual Faculties. . . 94 
Genus I. External Senses. ... 94 

Feeling of Touch. . . . .95 

Taste 96 

Smell 97 

Hearing. ... 97 

Sight 100 

Genus II. Intellectual Faculties which perceive 
the existence of external objects, and 

their physical qualities. . . 102 

22. Individuality 102 

23. Form 106 

24. Size 107 

25. Weight and Resistance. . , . 108 

26. Color 112 

Genus III. Intellectual Faculties which perceive 

the physical relations of objects to each 

other 116 

27. Locality 116 

28. Order. . . . . . . 118 

29. Number 120 

30. Eventuality 121 

31. Time 125 

32. Tune 128 

33. Language 129 

34. Comparison 133 

35. Causality 134 

General View of the External Senses, 

and of the Cerebral Organs. . . 138 

Temperaments 144 

Quality of the Brain. ... 153 
Primary and Secondary Influence of the 

Affective Faculties explained. . 157 
XIII. Activity of the Intellectual Faculties — 

their power to excite the Feelings. 159 



CHAPTER 


IX. 


a 


X. 


a 


XI. 


a 


XII. 



CONTENTS. XI 

Pago 
CHAPTER XIV. Activity of the Feelings, and their effect 

upon the Intellect. - 161 

" XV. Free Agency — Accountability — Habit. 162 

" XVI. Degrees of Moral Liberty — Fatality. 166 

XVIL Attention. 169 

" XVIII. Perception, Conception, and Imagination. 171 

XIX. Memory. 173 

XX. Judgment. 180 

XXI. Taste. 184 

XXII. Sympathy. 187 

XXIII. Definitions. ------ 190 

" XXIV. On the Qualifications necessary to the 

Practical Application of Phrenology. 194 
« XXV. How Proof of the Science is to be Obtained. 200 
" XXVI. Examination of Heads by professed Phre- 
nologists. 203 

" XXVII. Further Remarks upon Examinations. 205 

" XXVIII. Lectures on Phrenology. 209 

" XXIX Directions for observing Temperaments. 211 

" XXX. How Judgments are to be formed on the 

Quality of the Brain. - - -213 

XXXI. On the Observations of the Size of the 

Head, in reference to Mental Power. 214 
" XXXII. Differences in general Formation of Heads 

noticed. 219 

« XXXIIL Classification of Heads. . - - 224 

" XXXIV. Heads remarkable for the Predominance of 

the Sincipital and Frontal Regions. 230 

" XXXV. Of the Forms of the Forehead. - - 241 
" XXXVI. Of the mode of illustrating Organs, Tal- 
ents, and Characters combined. - - 242 
" XXXVII. Character and Talents of Robert Burns. 243 
" XXXVIII. Character and Talents of Richard Brinsley 

Sheridan — a Dramatist and Orator. 265 

" XXXIX. Chief Justice Marshall. — Talents of a 
Statesman and Judge, and character of a 
modest, firm, honest, independent Man. 271 



Xll 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
CHAPTER XL. General Washington— a Sketch of his 
Character and Talents upon Phrenolog- 
ical Principles. - - - 277 
« XLI. The Character and Talents of Lafayette. 282 
" XLII. Dr. Franklin, his Character and Talents — 
a Philosopher, a Politician, Moralist, and 
Man of Businesss, prudent, amiable, fas- 
cinating, honest, and persevering. 292 
" XLIII. An Ambitious Character, with the Talents 

of a Politician. - 304 

" XLIV. Michael Angelo Buonaroti — Talents of a 
Painter, Sculptor, Architect, etc. Char- 
acter of a firm, honest, stern, indepen- 
dent, industrious, but irritable Man. 309 
" XLV. George Moreland, a Painter. - - - 319 
" XLVI. Mrs. Maeder, better known as Miss Clara 

Fisher. — Talent — an Actress. - 321 

« XLVII. G. M. Gottfried, a Murderer by Poison. 323 

« XLVIIL Black Hawk, an Indian Chief and Warrior. 327 

XLIX. Brief Notice of Dr. Gall. - - - 329 

" L. Remarks on the best method of observing 

some of the Perceptive Organs. - 332 
" LI. Change of Character and Talents, and a si- 
multaneous change of the form of the 
Head. 333 



LIST OF CU TS. 



1. 


Upper surface of the Brain. 


26 


2. 


Basis of the Human Brain. 


27 


3. 


View of the lateral surface 






of the Brain. 


28 


4. 


Map of the Ear. - 


99 


5. 


Map of the Eye. 


101 


6. 


Frontal Sinus. - 


104 


7. 


Two Obelisks. 


109 


8. 


Head of an Idiot. 


216 


9. 


Three views of the Head of 




Williams, a Murderer. 


225 


10. 


Three views of the Head of 






Bishop, a Murderer. 


227 


11. 


Head of Dr. Tilton. 


230 


12. 


Head of Dr. Rush. 


234 


13. 


Head of Robert Burns. 


248 



Page 

14. Four views of the Scull of Burns. 249 

15. Head of Richard B. Sheridan. 265 

16. Head of Judge Marshall. - 271 

17. Head of Gen. Washington. 277 

18. Head of Lafayette. - - 283 

19. Head of Franklin. - - - 293 

20. Fancy Head. 304 

21. Head of Michael Angelo. - 309 

22. Head of George Moreland. 319 

23. Head of Mrs/Maeder, or Clara 

Fisher. 322 

24. Two views of the Head of G. 

M. Gottfried. - - - 324 

25. Head of Black Hawk. - - 327 

26. Head of Dr. Gall. - - - 329 

27. An enlarged view of an Eye. 332 



PRACTICAL PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Phrenology is the science, which treats of the intel- 
lectual faculties, moral feelings, and propensities of man; 
and it unfolds the laws of their exercise and manifestation, 
as connected with physical organization. The term 
Phrenology is derived from two Greek words, which 
signify mind and discourse. 

It has grown up out of a most laborious collection and 
comparison of facts, in accordance with the Baconian, or 
inductive system, relying for its truth upon the uniformity 
of natural laws. 

Dr. Gall, a distinguished physician of Vienna, was the 
founder of the science, and devoted most of his time and 
attention to this great work for nearly forty years. Dr. 
Spurzheim was for many years associated with Dr. Gall 
in his labors, and devoted himself to the science for more 
than thirty years. The degrees, in which each con- 
tributed towards rearing the science, together with the 
assistance rendered by others, from time to time, will be 
found by a perusal of their works, which contain the 
history of their discoveries. 
2 



14 PHRENOLOGY. 

Their are certain great principles generally admitted, 
which are necessarily recognised by the science of 
Phrenology. 

The first of these is, that children are born with dif- 
ferent dispositions and capacities ; that in the same family 
or neighbourhood, there are innate differences in the 
dispositions and talents of the individuals, and that these 
differences are as striking as those of size, form, com- 
plexion, and constitution. 

The second principle recognised by Phrenology is, 
that, notwithstanding these original innate differences 
continue through life to modify character to a great 
extent, every one is, and may be,ijifluenced by education, 
health, climate, and the thousand circumstances which 
surround us. And that character is the result of the 
combined influence of all these great principles. 

Phrenology adopts a third generally recognised prin- 
ciple, beautifully expressed by the late Mr. Wirt, that 
" in all sound minds the germ of all the faculties exists," 
or in other words, that in each mind there is a certain 
and determinate number of faculties. Thirty-five of 
these faculties are already considered as sufficiently 
established. A few others are supposed to exist, but are 
not yet considered as sufficiently proved. 

The fourth doctrine recognised by Phrenology is, that 
the brain and the external senses are the material organs, 
through which all knowledge is acquired, and thought 
and feeling are manifested. I say recognised, because I 
believe, that this doctrine is now generally believed by all 
those, who have the slightest acquaintance with physiology 
or anatomy. The old notion, that the moral sentiments 
have their seat and centre in the thoracic and abdo- 



FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE. 15 

minal viscera, is generally exploded; and the expression, 
that indicates the heart to be the seat of the feelings, is 
now generally understood in a figurative sense, which 
has its origin in the effect of any sudden emotion upon 
this important organ, from its sympathy with the brain. 

The Jifth and last doctrine recognised by Phrenology, 
of which it is necessary to make particular mention, is, 
that the mind is a unity, although it manifests itself 
through a plurality of faculties. 

The fundamental doctrines of Phrenology remain now 
to be stated. 



CHAPTER II. 

FIRST FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE OF PHRENOLOGY THE 

CONNEXION BETWEEN MANIFESTATION OF MIND AND 
MENTAL ORGANS. 

Although it is generally admitted, that the brain is 
the material organ of thought and feeling, the science of 
Phrenology carries the doctrine of the nature and extent 
of this union far beyond any former philosophy. 

1. The mind does not in this life manifest itself inde- 
pendently of the exercise of the brain, its material organ. 

2. That every mental affection, and every exercise of 
the intellect, requires a particular and corresponding state 
of the brain, just as every exercise of vision requires a 
particular state of the organ of sight. 

3. That the more perfect the state of the organ, the 
more perfect will be the manifestation of the mind, as 



16 PHRENOLOGY. 

perfection of sight depends on the perfection and activity 
of its organ. As it is physiologically absurd to speak of 
life independent of organization, so is it phrenologically 
absurd to speak of mental manifestations independent of 
organic activity and agency. There is sometimes a 
morbid activity of mind, manifested when the organ is 
diseased, far more intense than any thing known to the 
healthy state. But the excited action of the brain, in 
these cases, always corresponds to the manifestation of 
mind. The manner, in which an all-wise Creator has 
brought about this intimate connexion between the im- 
material spirit and material organization, is known only 
to himself. He has been pleased, in his volume of Reve- 
lation, to open to our faith and our hope a prospect of a 
future and separate state of existence, and on this we 
must rely. But while the soul is connected with organi- 
zation, it becomes us to study it in this connexion, and 
this only. If we do not, we neglect many of the great 
and important truths, on which our happiness and safety 
depend, and are guilty of a disrespect for the natural 
laws of our Creator — laws no less entitled to our reli- 
gious regard than those contained in his revealed will. 

As in speaking of the sun as rising and setting, we are 
guilty of a slight error of speech, yet in strict accordance 
with its apparent motion ; so we are guilty of a similar 
error, when we speak of mind as merely a function of the 
brain ; yet by so doing, we more readily comprehend the 
laws of mind, than by any other mode of expresssion ; — 
because we avail ourselves then of all the reflected light 
thrown upon the subject, by contemplating the functions 
of the whole human system. We speak then as physi- 
ologists are obliged to speak, when treating of the func- 



PLURALITY OF MENTAL ORGANS. 17 

tions of the brain, in connexion with the functions of all 
the physical organs. This will enable us to understand 
how the mind can become (in the language of a writer 
in the Christian Spectator) " young and old, mature and 
decrepit, weak and strong, sane and insane, drunk and 
sober ', asleep and awake ; — how it may be fatigued by 
exercise, prematurely enfeebled by ill-timed or too pow- 
erful exertion — rendered idiotic by a blow, or comatose 
by a hemlock, — states or modifications of the thinking 
principle perfectly unintelligible (indeed shocking to 
thought) on the supposition of a purely spiritual or in- 
dependent existence, but which are in perfect harmony 
with a presently dependent existence, and in entire ac- 
cordance with those which functions undergo under 
certain conditions, diseased or healthy, of their organs." 



CHAPTER III. 

PLURALITY OF MENTAL ORGANS. 

We have already recognised the doctrine, that there 
are a plurality of faculties. We will now state the sec- 
ond great phrenological doctrine, viz. that every distinct 
faculty is manifested by an appropriate organ, or, in the 
language of physiology, that the brain is a combination 
of parts, or organs, performing distinct functions, or 
manifesting distinct faculties. 

A faculty , as applied to Phrenology and defined by 
Mr. Combe, indicates the particular state % into which the 
2* 



18 PHRENOLOGY. 

mind enters , when influenced by particular organs. It is 
therefore the function of a physical organ to manifest 
mind in the form of faculties agreeable to the laws of 
organization and exercise. 

There are several proofs of the plurality of mental or- 
gans, the force of which may be more or less appreciated, 
without resorting to the great source of evidence, derived 
from observation of uniformity of cerebral development 
and mental manifestation, by which the organs are regard- 
ed as established. 

The Jirst of these is derived from analogy. Through 
the whole range of the animal system, each distinct func- 
tion is performed by a distinct organ. The stomach 
digests food, the liver secretes bile, the heart propels the 
blood, the lungs perform the function of respiration. 
There is no ascertained example of one nerve perform- 
ing two functions, such as feeling and communicating 
motion, or seeing and hearing, tasting and smelling. So 
if reasoning be an act or function, different from loving 
or contending, analogy would seem to require us to look 
for, and to expect to find, distinct organs. 

2. Man manifests more faculties than any brute ani- 
mal ; and a dissection of the brain of man, and of the 
several classes of animals, furnishes evidence, that the 
brain of the former possesses several more convolutions 
or organs, and these are appropriated to sentiments and 
higher intellectual powers. No one will be ready to be- 
lieve, that the lowest and smallest animal, that has an 
apparatus called a brain, has in that apparatus as many 
distinct folds or parts, as has the human brain. 

3. It is well known, that the different faculties of chil- 
dren manifest themselves at different periods. In infancy 



PLURALITY OF MENTAL ORGANS. 19 

the feeling of attachment, disposition to destroy, and 
desire of food, are all quite unduly active. It will be 
found on examination of the brains of children, they ap- 
pear pulpy and imperfectly organized. And the several 
portions of the brain increase in growth at different ages. 
The cerebellum is scarcely the twentieth part of the 
brain of a child, but of an adult it is often a sixth or 
seventh part. 

4. All must have noticed most decided differences in 
the characters of the two sexes. All the faculties and 
their organs belong to each sex, but their characters are 
modified, in consequence of their being possessed in dif- 
ferent degrees. In man some of the feelings necessary 
to the preservation of the species are strongest, while 
others are strongest in women. Woman has decidedly 
the stronger love of offspring. Among little children the 
girl has the doll baby, and the boy gets astride a stick, 
and delights in a top, a ball, or drum. Women have 
stronger attachments than men, have greater desires to 
please, more cautiousness, and are more fearful, and 
easier of belief, — while man has more courage, self- 
esteem, and firmness. And it is a fact well established, 
that the heads of the two sexes differ, just as their facul- 
ties do. A practical phrenologist can easily tell a scull 
of a male from that of a female. 

5. The exercise of one faculty does not produce gene- 
ral fatigue, but only of that which has been exercised. 
If there were but one general organ for all the faculties, 
the whole brain would be fatigued, and change of em- 
ployment would be no more relief, than walking south 
would be to a man, who had been walking north until 
his legs were fatigued. But we may change from one 



20 PHRENOLOGY. 

employment to another, and one study to another, in such 
manner, as to give relief and rest to the organs succes- 
sively all day. This is practically understood, and studies 
in schools are, to some extent, arranged in reference to 
it. 

6. But no device will enable us to dispense with sleep. 
And this state furnishes strong proof of a plurality of 
mental organs. Sleep, says Machnish, exists in two 
states, in the complete, and incomplete. The first is 
characterized by torpor of the various organs of animal 
life, viz. of the brain, the external senses, and of volun- 
tary motion. Incomplete sleep, or dreaming, is the ac- 
tive state of one or more of the cerebral organs, while 
the remainder are in repose. The organs of the senses 
and of voluntary motion may, or may not, be in repose. 
In dreaming there remains an activity of the perceptive 
organs, or at least a part of them, while others are asleep. 
Hence we have a consciousness of objects, their form, 
size, colors, position, location, &c. just as if stimulated 
by the impressions communicated by the external senses; 
while, in consequence of the repose of the reflective or- 
gans, we are unable to rectify the illusions ; and (by the 
activity of marvellousness, one of the organs) the scenes 
passing before us seem to have a real existence. This 
view of the phenomena of dreaming has alone convinced 
many, of the plurality of mental organs. 

7. Partial genius, and partial and unequal suscepti- 
bility of feeling, are considered as strong proof of the 
plurality of mental organs. One excels in poetry, an- 
other in music, a third in numbers, — one is benevolent, 
but indifferent to children — another is excessively fond 
of children, and deficient in general good will. If the 



PLURALITY OF MENTAL ORGANS. 21 

brain be but one general organ, how shall we account 
for this state of things ? 

6. Monomania, or partial insanity, presents a state of 
facts wholly inconsistent with the supposition, that the 
mind has but a single organ. It is well known, that in- 
sanity is usually more or less partial. Sometimes people 
are deranged only in a single feeling, or faculty, and per- 
fectly sane in all the rest. Such cases have furnished 
much perplexed discussion in courts of justice, and have 
been inexplicable to the medical profession. It is now 
well understood, that madness is exclusively an affection, 
not of the mind, but of the brain. The mind is never 
old, or young, or diseased. 

9. Partial injuries to the brain do not equally affect all 
the mental powers. 

The lines of separation between each of the cerebral 
organs have not yet been ascertained. On this subject 
Dr. Spurzheim remarks, that "the first anatomical princi- 
ple of the nervous system generally applies to the brain 
in particular, that is to say, this mass is not a simple unit, 
but a collection of many peculiar instruments. " The 
physiological and pathological proofs of its truth are 
contained above. Many writers, among others Dr. Gall, 
say that the faculties of animals are multiplied in propor- 
tion as their brains are complicated. Were this remark 
universally correct, it would serve as a positive proof of 
the brain's being an assemblage of organs. But without 
reckoning the difficulty, not to say the impossibility, of 
determining anatomically, even in birds and mammifer- 
ous animals, the constituent parts of the brain, and 
admitting that as true, which mechanical anatomy de- 
monstrates, viz. that the brain is made up of a greater or 



22 PHRENOLOGY. 

smaller number of bundles, it must still be observed, that 

each particular bundle cannot legitimately be assumed 

as composing a peculiar organ." 

* * * * * 

"The lobes may always be distinguished from one 
another, and certain convolutions from others. The 
general form and elevation of the convolutions are 
remarkably regular. Thus, the transverse convolutions 
of the superior lateral and middle parts of the hem- 
ispheres are never found running in any other direc- 
tion, never longitudinally, for example. Those that lie 
longitudinally, again, are never met with disposed trans- 
versely. * * One, therefore, who has studied the forms 
of the peripheral expansions of the cerebral organs, will 
always be able to distinguish in man the organ of ac- 
quisitiveness from that of destructiveness, and that of 
veneration from either, as easily as an ordinary observer 
will the olfactory from the optic nerve. It must be ad- 
mitted, however, that convolutions, forming parts of any 
particular apparatus, present many modifications, in refer- 
ence to the size and number of anfractuosities. Such 
modifications occur, not only in the brains of different 
individuals, but even in the two hemispheres of the same 
brain. Variety, however, need not be confounded with 
essential configuration. * * * I have remarked, that the 
organs, which are best nourished and most largely devel- 
oped, have generally the smallest number of anfractuosi- 
ties." 

The nature of this work will not permit us to go into a 
detailed account of the structure of the commissures, and 
of the masses at the base of the convolutions. For this in- 
formation I must refer the curious reader to Spurzheim's 
Anatomy of the Brain, from which the above is extracted. 



THE ORGANS. 23 



CHAPTER IV. 

RELATIVE SIZE OF THE ORGANS. 

The third fundamental doctrine of Phrenology is, that 
the comparative strength and activity of the several in- 
tellectual and effective faculties, in each individual, is 
generally indicated by the relative size of the organs. 
We say generally, for where a moderate sized organ has 
been much exercised, and a large one much neglected, the 
relative size of the organs does not indicate with unerring 
certainty its full relative strength and activity. It is 
well to take into consideration natural language and the 
influence of external circumstances, when the above 
general principle comes to be applied as a rule in the 
investigation of talents and character. In this we speak 
only of size, as to its effect upon organs in the same head, 
just as the size of the different fingers of -.the same hand 
indicates the relative power of them. This, indeed, 
becomes a mere question of quantity, as more or less. 

The fourth fundamental doctrine is founded upon the 
correctness of the third ; and is a question of fact, viz. 
that by careful observation and inspection, the relative 
size of the several organs may be discovered, from the 
external form of the scull or of the living head. 

The application of this last principle has led to most 
of the discoveries in the science. And it indeed requires 
the exercise of sound judgment, under certain limita- 
tions. It is the only method by which the functions of 
the several cerebral organs can be discovered. We can- 



24 PHRENOLOGY. 

not discover the function of any organ by dissection, 
especially of the delicate organs of the brain. The eye was 
never ascertained to be the organ of vision by dissection. 
Neither does our consciousness enable us to designate 
peculiar material instruments as active, in particular 
processes of thought or moods of feeling. These pro- 
cessses may be, and indeed are, frequently accompanied 
by simultaneous sensations of heat or pain in particular 
regions, and we may be conscious of these sensations ; 
but this is not consciousness of the use of particular 
organs. Hence Phrenologists look for evidence in ref- 
erence to the functions of the different organs of the 
brain, in the only way the nature of the case allows. 
The application of this principle will be particularly 
considered in a subsequent part of this work, in connex- 
ion with a practical application of the science. 

A faculty is considered as established, when the fol- 
lowing points are proved. 

1. Does the faculty exist in one kind of animals and 
not in another ? 

2. When the faculty is manifested in different degrees 
in different sexes. 

3. When the faculty in question is decidedly strong 
or weak, in proportion to other faculties of the same in- 
dividual. 

4. When it does not manifest itself, at every period of 
life, in coincidence with any other faculty or combination 
of faculties. 

5. When it is noticed to act or rest singly. 

6. When it is inherited from parents. 

7. When it may be separately deranged. 



THE BRAIN. 25 



CHAPTER V. 

BRIEF ANATOMICAL VIEW OF THE HUMAN BRAIN. 

Although the anatomy of the brain does not furnish 
any direct proofs of its function, yet an acquaintance 
with it is calculated to prepare the mind for the recep- 
tion of proofs derived from other sources, and also to 
demonstrate the superior manner in which those, who 
believe in the doctrine of Phrenology, have dissected 
the brain. 

The brain may be considered as a portion of the ner- 
vous system. The nervous system is usually spoken of 
under three parts — the brain, spinal marrow, and the 
nerves, all of which have their own individual origins, 
and are mutual in communication. 

The brain is that large and delicately organized mass, 
found in the cavity of the scull. 



26 



PHRENOLOGY. 



The three following figures will give different views of 
a brain. 

Figure I. 




Fig. I. represents the upper surface of the Brain. The front is at B. The 
line A B is the division between the two hemispheres. The waving lines are 
the convolutions, between which are furrows descending more than half an inch. 
The Roman letters indicate the location of the organs, as numbered by Spurz- 
heim, and in this work. 

The first division of the brain is into hemispheres or 
halves, the separation between which is easily seen. 
Each hemisphere contains all the organs. Hence the 
organs are all double, as are those of the external senses. 
Between these hemispheres is a deep fissure, into which 
dips a membrane called a/ah. 



THE BRAIN. 



27 



Figure II. 



x\t/ n 



XXX 



xxyn 



xkvtii 




B.A5I5 of the Human Brain. The parts before a a are called the front" 
al, or anterior Jobes ; the parts behind c c the posterior lobes, and the purt^ 
between them the middle lobes, e represents the medulla oblongata — //the 
cerebellum. 

The brain is spoken of, in relation to its three princi- 
pal portions, under the name of lobes. These lobes are 
anterior, middle, and posterior. This is an imaginary 
division, made for convenience in speaking of the brain. 
The anterior lobe occupies the forehead ; the middle lies 
above, and a little before the ears ; and the posterior 
occupies the back part of the scull. 



28 



PHRENOLOGY. 



The cerebellum, or little brain, is at the posterior 
region, and separated from the cerebrum, or brain proper, 
by a membrane, called the tentorium. 
Figure III. 




This presents a view of the lateral surface of the brain, cerebellum and medul- 
la oblongata, in their natural situations. 

There are three membraneous coverings to the brain ; 
the dura mater, the pia mater , and the arachnoid mem- 
brane. The dura mater is a substantial, firm, hard mem- 



THE BRAIN. 29 

brane, adhering to the inner table of the scull. The pia 
mater is a soft and delicate covering, adhering so closely 
to the folds or convolutions, that it is doubted by some 
physiologists, whether it should be considered as a distinct 
membrane from the surface of the brain. Those, who 
doubt the existence of this membrane, say it is merely 
the minute cerebral arteries, and those of the correspond- 
ing veins, forming at the surface of the brain a minute 
vascular net work.* 

The arachnoid, or spider web membrane, is interposed 
between the other two, and is the secretory organ of the 
serum, which moistens the internal surface of the dura 
mater. It is a shut sack, whose internal surface is in 
contact with itself, while its external surface adheres to 
the pia mater and dura mater. 

The brain is composed of a cineritious and medullary 
substance, as is every other nervous apparatus ; and both 
are doubtless necessary to the perfect formation of the in- 
strument, which performs a particular function. The cin- 
eritious substance of the brain is principally confined to the 
surface, and is of a pulpy, gelatinous character. It is usu- 
ally of a gray or ashy color, but not always ; so that pulpi- 
ness, and not color, is its distinguishing character. This 
substance is easily seen also in the ganglions, and in the 
nervous masses of the head and spine of vertebral ani- 
mals. It has, distributed through it, an immense number 
of blood vessels, so that it appears almost as an entire 
mass of them ; but there is besides these a distinct nerv- 
ous matter interspersed between them. The white, or 
medullary substance is demonstrated to be fibrous or 

* Dunglison's Physiology. 
3* 



30 PHRENOLOGY. 

striated. Its fibrosity cannot be seen with equal distinct- 
ness in all brains. It should be a fresh brain of a 
subject, who had been healthy and somewhere near the 
middle age, in order to show its fibres to the best advan- 
tage. 

The fibrous nature of the medullary substance was 
more fully demonstrated by Dr. Spurzheim than by any 
preceding anatomist. His mode of dissection enabled 
him to discover several particulars not before known, viz. 

1. That the fibres of the medullary substance begin 
at the apex or medulla oblongata, and extend to near the 
surface, diverging in every direction. 

2. That, as they proceeded to the surface, fibres were 
added. 

3. That there are two great sets of fibres for each half 
of the brain. 

4. That these are folded into convolutions or organs. 

5. That the gray, or cineritious matter, is that out of 
which the medullary matter proceeds ; and that the gray 
matter intervenes among the medullary matter, where the 
fibres commence. 

The fibres are easily discovered by the scalpel ; but 
the convolutions are so exceedingly delicate, that they 
will not always bear to be separated by the finger, as you 
would separate the parts of an orange ; but by jetting 
water, with a syringe, upon the brain, or by using a com- 
mon blow pipe, the parts will separate. The convolu- 
tions upon the surface are the mere peripheral expansions 
of the internal nervous bundles, to which they bear pro- 
portion, as the expansion of the optic nerve is in propor- 
tion to the nerve itself. 



THE BRAIN. 31 

The cerebellum is an apparatus in connextion with, but 
independent of, the rest of the nervous system, as to its 
existence and functions. It is composed of the same 
nervous matter of the brain, presenting cineritious and 
medullary substances. It is connected with the medulla 
oblongata in that portion called the corpora rcstiformia. 

Circulation in the Brain. 

The brain requires much more blood to support it than 
any other equal part of the system — say eight or ten 
times as much. And the blood, which goes to the brain, 
is supposed to be more earated than that, which is dis- 
tributed to the other parts. It is blood, which has just 
passed from the lungs, highly charged with oxygen and 
caloric, and is light red and frothy. Its force is checked 
both by its specific gravity and the angular curvature, 
which the artery makes in its course; — were it not for 
this, the cerebral arteries would be likely to break. 

The brain requires to be constantly stimulated with 
properly oxygenated blood. If this be altogether with- 
drawn, the brain ceases to act, and sensibility and con- 
sciousness become extinct. When fixed air is inhaled, 
the blood passing through the lungs does not become 
renovated with oxygen, and the mental functions become 
impaired. If blood be too highly oxygenated, the brain is 
too much stimulated, and inflammation is liable to ensue. 
Hence the phenomena of thought and feeling not only 
depend on certain organs, but those organs require their 
appropriate stimulus.* 

Combe's principles of Physiology, p. 214. 



32 PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER VI. 



SCULL. 



The scull is a strong, but yielding, covering to the 
brain, intended to protect it from injury. In infants it is 
in a partially formed state ; and in after life the processes 
of absorption and deposition are so constant, that it fur- 
nishes no obstacle to the growth and change of form in 
the brain. Indeed, where any organ of the brain is very 
active for a long time, there is so much heat in the region 
of it, and the absorbent vessels become so active, that 
the scull becomes very thin against the organ, and a 
protuberance becomes apparent. Hence the scull en- 
larges to suit the growth of the brain, either by growth 
at the sutures of the scull, or by the formation of protu- 
berances. The scull is composed of an outer and inner 
table, and between these is a diploe. There are also 
several processes. These serve to fasten the muscles of 
the scalp to the scull. The mastoid process is directly 
back of the ear ; the zygomatic, just before the ear, and 
the spinous process, or occipital spine, is at the top of 
the spine, at the transverse ridge of the occipital bone. 
The scull is nearly parallel in its two tables, and the 
scalp is so loose, that the shape of the brain may be 
determined by the shape of the head, with reasonable 
certainty. There are cuts of several sculls in a subse- 
quent part of this work, illustrative of them, both physi- 
ologically and anatomically. 



PROPORTION. 33 



CHAPTER. VII. 

THE DOCTRINE OF PROPORTION. 

The brain being the instrument of thought and feel- 
ing, these, when manifested, are to be practically treated 
by the same laws, as if they were mere functions of the 
brain ; and the brain being only a part and portion of the 
whole human frame, we must not estimate its powers of 
manifestation, independently of certain conditions of the 
whole system. 

1. Then we must regard proportion, as a great indica- 
tion of both strength and the tendency to well-regulated 
activity. 

"NVe have already observed, that the brain requires a 
large portion of pure oxygenated blood, and that without 
this its powers are inert. It will be readily perceived, 
that, if the brain be too large for a perfect proportion to 
the body, one of two things must occur ; either that the 
brain will not receive its wonted stimulus, or that it will 
deprive the rest of the system of a portion of what be- 
longs to it, and enfeeble it ; — either of which conditions 
would indicate deranged proportion and consequent 
weakness. Men of very large brains and feeble bodies 
may be enabled, under strong excitement, to perform 
great things occasionally ; but this will be followed by- 
subsequent lassitude or disease. 

Again, if the blood predominate strongly in the sys- 
tem, and be of a highly stimulating character, and the 
brain be small, then the brain is too highly stimulated 



34 PHRENOLOGY. 

for the coolness of judgment and reflection, and the indi- 
vidual will be characterized by impetuosity and giddy 
excitement. Hence the best condition is that of perfect 
proportion of the brain to the whole system. 

Size, independent of the consideration of proportion, 
and as embracing the whole human system, cannot be a 
criterion of either power or sustained activity. If we 
could find a large man with the same fine proportion — 
same compactness of frame — a proportionate internal 
viscera, and a proportionate brain and nervous system, 
then indeed size becomes an element, which we imper- 
ceptibly regard in this as throughout all nature. 

Richerand remarks, that set against a " colossus a little 
man of diminutive stature, granting nevertheless to this 
*ast full and vigorous health — you may guess that he is 
stirring, always in action, and always changing place ; 
one would say he is laboring to recover in time, what 
he has lost in space. The probable reason of this differ- 
ence in the vital activity, following the difference of 
stature, arises from the relative bulk of the primary organs 
of life. The heart, the viscera of digestion, &c. are of 
nearly the some bulk in all men ; in all, the great cavi- 
ties are nearly of the same extent, and it is principally 
in the length of the lower limbs, that the difference of 
stature will be found to be. It is easily conceivable that 
the viscera, supplying the same quantity of nutritious 
juices to a smaller bulk, that the heart giving the same 
impulse to blood which is to traverse a shorter course, all 
the functions will be executed with greater rapidity and 
energy." This is certainly true in degree, and is a very 
important consideration in relation to the functions of the 
brain and judgments of character. It is stated that the 



PROPORTION. 35 

whole body, and I might add the mind, will receive in- 
crease of vigor from the amputation of a limb. After 
the loss of a part of the body, a manifest change will be 
likely to uike place, increasing in the sanguineous tem- 
perament. 

Since writing the above, I observed the following re- 
maiks in the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal. They 
arc made for a different purpose there, but are strikingly 
similar to my own. " The human body is composed of 
a variety of systems of organs, each having particular 
functions to perform, and health is the result of the 
favorable action of the whole, in harmonious combination. 
Every organ is disposed, other circumstances being 
equal, to act with a degree of energy, in proportion to 
ize ; and as disease is the consequence, either of 
under-action or over-action of the organs, their propor- 
tion to each other in size is a point of fundamental im- 
portance in regard to health. If the lungs be too small, 
indicated by a compressed chest, short collar-bones, with 
shoulders projecting forward, and giving roundness to 
the back, the blood will be imperfectly oxygenized, there 
will be a corresponding deficiency of vital energy, and a 
liability to pulmonary diseases." 



36 PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

DIVISION OP THE FACULTIES. 

I shall adopt the division of the Faculties made by 
Mr. Combe, and the numbering of the organs of Dr. 
Spurzheim. Mr. Combe makes two orders. 

ORDER I. — The Affective Faculties. 
" II. — The Intellectual Faculties. 

The Feelings, or Affective Faculties, are divided into 
genera : — 

1. The Propensities. 

2. The Sentiments. 

The Sentiments are again divided into the higher and 
the lower Sentiments. 

ORDER II. 

The Intellectual Faculties are divided into four 
genera : — - 

1. External Senses and voluntary motion. 

2. Perceptive Faculties, which make man acquainted 

with the external objects, and their physical quali- 
ties. 

3. The power which perceives the relations of external 

objects. 

4. The Reflective Faculties, which discover the inhe- 

rent relations between objects, as cause and effect, 
— the differences in kind, power, agency, and 
fitness. 



VITATIVENESS. 37 

ORDER I. — Affective Faculties. 

The Affective Faculties have their origin from within 
and cannot be taught, but to be understood must be felt. 
They are partly common to both man and animals, and 
partly peculiar to man. 

Genus I. 

This genus comprises those feelings, which are com- 
mon to man and to animals. Of these, there are nine 
considered as established, and two are considered as still 
requiring farther proof. These are Vitativeness, or desire 
to live, and Alimentiveness. 

Vitativeness. 

Innateness. — Phrenologists have been induced to be- 
lieve, (i that the feeling of a desire to live " is an innate 
and peculiar feeling, and not dependent upon any other 
feeling. This they have concluded from the general 
analysis of the whole human character. But with that 
caution and regard for truth, which has distinguished 
the founders of this science, they have not ventured to 
consider the organ established. The feeling, if it exists, 
will seldom be manifested, unless when in danger of 
death ; it, therefore, seems to be necessary to notice it 
in this view. The fear of death must, in a great degree, 
result from a mere love of life, as the pain of death, or 
fear of future retribution, is insufficient to account for 
the dread with which it is frequently contemplated. 
Caution is only active when excited by danger to some 
feeling. The feeling does not exist in brute animals. 
The love of life is much more active in some than in 
4 



38 PHRENOLOGY. 

others, and does not bear the same proportion in all. 
With most people, it is the strongest desire of their 
nature ; they cannot endure the contemplation of death. 
Others seem regardless of death. It does not appear 
active in early childhood. Our religion recognises the 
love of life as one of our strongest feelings ; and our 
criminal codes consider the punishment of death as the 
strongest terror to deter men from crime. These remarks 
are thrown out to attract attention to the subject. 

The location of this organ is conjectural. 

Dr. Andrew Combe has furnished one fact of coinci- 
dence between an unusual development of an organ in 
the base of the brain, and this feeling. The convolution 
was at the base of the middle lobe of the brain. 

If this be the organ, it will seldom be discovered dur- 
ing life, and will not often be the subject of Phrenological 
judgment, except in an examination of the brain, and in 
comparing sculls. 

Its activity should be regulated like other feelings, 
and it should be treated as a primitive instinct. Thus 
treated, a well regulated intellect would be enabled to 
control it so as to aid the consolations of philosophy and 
religion, in our approach to the " King of terrors. " I 
think those who magnify the natural dread of death do 
very wrong. It is better that it should be regarded as 
a mere incident, like falling asleep. Let Heaven be with 
us, and in us already begun, and what we now see dimly 
through the obscure of these earthly organs, we may 
hope to see in the most transcendent brightness. 



ALIMENTIVENESS. 39 

ALIMENTIVENESS. 

Innateness. — The first inquiry to be made, in refer- 
ence to Aliinentiveness, as well as all other organs, is 
this, — Does such a distinct feeling exist, or is it a mani- 
festation of several feelings combined ? 

The nerves of the stomach and palate give the sen- 
sations of hunger and thirst. But those are merely 
disagreeable or painful sensations. They alone would 
not, unaided, lead us to desire food any more than a 
pain of the head would lead us to desire a medical pre- 
scription. A knowledge, that fuod would cure the one 
and a prescription the other, might lead the intellect to 
the conclusion, that it would be beneficial to make the 
application. But this would be very uncertain, and 
presupposes that every one will be able to choose what 
is best for himself. Fools and infants could not have 
this power, yet they desire food. The truth is, an All- 
wise Creator has not left a regularly returning want for 
the sustenance of life to the uncertain suggestions of the 
individual 's intellect to determine. There is an instinc- 
tive desire of food active in the infant anterior to experi- 
ence or instruction. The same instinct also guides the 
brute in the selection of food. When well regulated, if 
is very little active except during meals ; and then it ex- 
hausts itself, so as to become quiet like any other instinct. 
This is usually simultaneous with relief from hunger, but 
it sometimes begins earlier and continues much longer. 

Facts. — I noticed the organ distinctly developed in 

an infant child of a Mr. . The head was large and 

the child precocious, — scull unquestionably very thin, 
so that the organ was obvious to every one. I will no- 



40 PHRENOLOGY. 

tice but one other case, which has come under my own 

observation. I saw a female, Miss B — , who is at the 

Retreat for the Insane at Hartford, Connecticut, and who 
is constantly talking about food, running over in her 
mind, and speaking audibly of every variety of dish, she 
can think of, and the modes of cookery. This is the 
same at all times, — not more so when hungry than at 
other times. Neither is she very dainty about her food, 
nor does she crave more than others. It is simply the 
engrossing subject of her thoughts, from morning until 
night. And on her head the organ is large, with moder- 
ately developed surrounding organs, so that there is no 
mistaking it. 

Location* — The organ is supposed to be located at 
the base of the brain, against that part of the scull, just 
above and before the ear. In the maniac just mentioned, 
that part of the scull was remarkably prominent. She is 
in the department of the incurables, and her head may 
be examined at any time. 

I have for some time regarded the organ as established ; 
and from the different modes in which I have seen it 
manifested, I am disposed to regard it as the propensity, 
which, when active, tends to excite thoughts of food, and 
a desire for it, independent of sensations of hunger or 
thirst. It is usually most active, when the sensations of 
hunger and thirst produce an uneasiness. Hence we feel 
the desire most at those regular periods, when we gratify 
it simultaneously with the gratification of our appetite. 

* The cuts and engravings, illustrative of the location and rel- 
ative size and form of the organs, will be found in the practical 
application of the science, in a subsequent part of the work. 



DESTRUCTIVENESS. 41 

A knowledge of the analysis of this feeling gives us 
a direct clue to the best mode of cure for the habitually 
intemperate. Intemperance usually results from, or is 
accompanied with, disease in the organ. In such case 
the organ has acquired a morbid action, which keeps the 
mind in contemplation of thoughts upon favorite stimu- 
lants, with their accompaniments. In order to cure the 
predominant and diseased activity of the organ, we must 
adopt not only those remedies, which will restore general 
health to the system; but also excite into predominating 
action the higher sentiments. The change is a moral 
one. Further remarks on this may be suggested in an- 
other place. 

I. — Destructiveness. 

Innateness. — Is there such a primitive disposition or 
propensity in man, or beast, as to excite thoughts and 
incline to acts of destruction, without regard to object 
or manner? Phrenologists maintain the doctrine that 
there is ; and they rely for proof on the customary 
tests. It is found to characterize some animals and not 
others. The hare never destroys. Carnivorous animals 
all delight in destruction, as the lion, tiger, Slc. It 
manifests itself very early. Put an article in the hand 
of a child, and it will either put it to the mouth to 
gratify alimentiveness, or strike it upon the floor to 
destroy it. There is the greatest variety among individ- 
uals in this trait of character. When regarded in its 
full extent of operation, these differences will appear 
quite remarkable. If active in harmony with the 
higher sentiments, it leads us to a desire to destroy error, 
vice, evil customs, &,c ; and we notice a great dif- 
4* 



42 PHRENOLOGY. 

ference in the actions and desires of individuals in 
these respects. Some too manifest the propensity in 
the grosser forms, by slander, foul language, pinching, 
scratching, biting, cutting, breaking, stabbing, strang- 
ling, demolishing, burning, drowning, poisoning, and 
murdering. Is not this the sustaining spirit of riots, 
mobs, wars, and revolutions 1 I have seen repeated in- 
stances of its deranged manifestations. The average 
measure of heads from destructiveness to destructiveness 
is about 5f- inches. I saw a dead man, who had been 
deranged, and had concealed himself in the woods in the 
winter, and there was found frozen. His head measured 
t at destructiveness 6f inches. The basilar region was 
all large. The organ was large in Teller, who was hung 
at Hartford, for killing the keeper of the States Prison 
at Weathersfield, Connecticut. I have seen his scull, 
and the organ was larger than it appeared externally, as 
the scull was very thin against the organ. 

The facts, by which this organ has been indirectly 
proved, are exceedingly numerous. A great number are 
recorded by Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, and the writers in 
the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal. Scarcely a day 
passes without witnessing some new facts. The portraits 
of Bishop, Williams, and M. G. Gottfried also show the 
organ large. 

When the organ is large, and with average surround- 
ing organs, it may be ascertained by carefully running 
the hand from the ear upward. The head will be very 
thick through from side to side, when all the side organs 
are large, and destructiveness among the rest. 

Discovery. — The organ was discovered by Dr. Gall. 
He was first led to notice the difference between the 



DESTRUCTIVENESS. 43 

heads of carnivorous and graminivorous tribes, the 
former having more brain just back of the ear than the 
latter. He could, by inspection of the scuil, as well as 
teeth, tell to which genera an animal belonged. He was 
presented with the scull of a parricide, and of a high- 
wayman, who had murdered as well as robbed. Be- 
tween these he noticed a striking similarity just above 
the ear. He then noticed a similarity in the crania of 
some others in his collection. The thought occurred — 
can there be a propensity to kill ? He shuddered at 
the thought. But this did not drive him from his search 
after truth, relying upon this great principle, that it is 
always safe to search for truth, and that all truth is 
consistent with itself. The feeling, as now analyzed, 
will be recognised as an indispensable part of our nature. 
It was at first seen only in its abuse. Let it be remem- 
bered, once for all, that good and bad are terms ap- 
plicable, not to faculties or organs, but to actions and 
feelings arising from them. 

Uses of the organ. — Sudden death is a law of our 
Creator. One animal destroys another, and one be- 
comes the food of another. Dr. Franklin was led to 
give up his scruples about eating animal food, from the 
fact, that one fish lived upon the destruction of another. 
No one will deny, that brutes are destined to sudden 
death, and that they are instinctively inclined to destroy; 
and man would be a victim to this instinct, and unable 
to maintain his supremacy, unless he too had the same 
principle. With destructiveness manifesting itself in the 
eye, and in the natural language, man becomes terrible 
to every ferocious animal. I have seen the lion's keeper 
in his cage, but the keeper's eye gave forth its destructive 



44 PHRENOLOGY. 

glare, and the lion quailed before it. Had the lion seen 
the predominance of fear, he would have seized him 
instantly. 

Abuse. — Whenever this instinct or propensity predom- 
inates over the balancing and directing influences of the 
higher sentiments, it will be likely to manifest abuses. 
All unnecessary destruction, all cursing and swearing, 
all sudden gusts of passion, and violent speech, all wan- 
ton attacks upon character, and slander, are abuses of 
this organ. History abounds in records of these abuses, 
both by nations and individuals. And such abuses will 
be likely to continue, until the congenial influence of the 
higher sentiments shall prevail universally. And this 
must be accomplished by the application of Christian 
truth, under the direction of a sound philosophy of man. 
Hence Christianity and enlightened philosophy become 
identical in aim and cooperative in means. 

II. — Amativeness. 

Itinateness. — That there is a peculiar instinct of our 
nature, independent of mere sexual appetite, which 
prompts to kindness, mutual attentions, and delicate 
recognitions between the sexes, &c, of which the 
specific tendencies are to the matrimonial union, is a 
doctrine claimed to be established by indisputable facts. 
The poets have personified and deified this instinct 
under the name of Cupid ; and have represented him 
as blind, and with a bow and arrow, shooting without 
direction or aim. I will not say how far this conception 
arose from the fact, that there is said to be a peculiar, 
undefined expression, which sometimes darts from the 
eye, and strikes the eye of the person to whom it chances 



AM YTIVENKSS. 15 

to be directed. This peculiarity is ;il>o always noticeable, 
viz. that these darts are felt only, when they come from 
the eye of one of the opposite sex. And another fact 
noticeable is, that they take effect only when simulta- 
neous in their passage. 

Has this instinct a peculiar and distinct organ, and 
where is it situated? 

The portion of the cerebral mass, claimed by Phren- 
ologists to be appropriated to this instinct, is most un- 
poetically called the cerebellum. The facts, on which 
this discovery is founded, are quite numerous, and may 
be multiplied to any extent by observation. The cere- 
bellum is situated between and below the mastoid 
process on each side, and the projecting point in the 
middle of the transverse ridge of the occiptal bone. 

The cerebellum is small in infancy, and is not more 
than a twentieth part of the whole brain. But in after 
life it is frequently a sixth or seventh part. At some- 
where about the age when the voice changes, its size 
increases rapidly, and dull heavy pains are felt in that 
region. At this period, the eye begins to acquire a 
peculiarly interesting glance. The reason assigned for 
this is, that the nerve of the eye is traceable along the 
base of the brain, very near to this organ. The 
Phrenologist may look at the eye, as well as at the occipi- 
tal region, when he would judge of the activity of this 
organ. The size and thickness of the neck, when 
considered in relation to symmetry, is also an indication 
of the size and activity of the organ. The higher senti- 
ments delight in a simultaneous activity with this feeling. 
Hence the object loved is not only conceived with the 
intensity produced by this impulse, but is viewed through 



46 PHRENOLOGY. 

the lens of excited reverence, benevolence, hope, faith, 
and ideality. 

The feeling is usually stronger in the male, than female; 
hence it is the province of man to woo, and woman to be 
wooed and won. Although this feeling seems to prompt 
to the first great relation, which lies at the foundation of 
society, and is sanctioned not only by revealed but natural 
law; it alone is not a sufficient guarantee for fidelity, 
unless rendered constant by the more steady influence of 
attachment, — a principle deeply rooted in the female 
character. 

III. — Philoprogenitveness. 

A devout and reflecting mind cannot but be deeply 
impressed with the wisdom of our Creator, in contem- 
plating the admirable manner, in which he has provided 
man and beast, with those unerring instincts necessary 
to his existence, and at the same time, as sources of 
the most exquisite enjoyment. We have already no- 
ticed the sexual instinct, on which the continuance and 
multiplication of animal life depends. But the young 
being, first ushered into existence, needs the kindest and 
most unwearied care of the parents ; for years, in our 
own species ; and for longer and shorter periods in the 
brute races. An instinct for this purpose is deeply 
seated in the animal nature, and by Phrenologists de- 
nominated Philoprogenitiveness, or love of offspring. But 
parents are not always able to bestow this care, hence 
the feeling is not confined to offspring, but is felt in its 
more gentle stirring towards the children of others, and 
youth generally. The feeling differs from every other ; 
— from pride in this, that it is most strongly excited 



PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 47 

towards the child, which has occasioned the most sorrow, 
mortification, or solicitude; from benevolence, because 
the feeling is most strongly manifested oftentimes in 
those, who are least actuated by benevolence. It is inde- 
pendent of intellectual endowment, or reflection, or sense 
of duty, although these, and many other influences, may 
sometimes be superadded. 

Has this instinct an appropriate organ, and where is 
it situated ? 

The organ appropriated to this instinct is directly 
above the cerebellum, and separated from it only by a 
membrane called the tentorium. On the scull this space 
appears to be nearly half an inch. It should not be 
mistaken for a small protuberance called the spinous 
process — a point to which the scalp fastens. The facts 
in proof of this location of the organ are very numerous, 
and may be multiplied daily by observation. 1st. If we 
view the heads of the two sexes, we shall generally find 
the part of the brain and scull in question much larger 
in the female than in the male, and females are admitted 
to be most fond of offspring. 2d. If we look abroad in 
society, we shall find that all those, whether male or 
female, who are most devotedly attached to offspring, 
have the largest organ appropriated to this attachment. 

In some the feeling is feeble, and in them the organ 
is small. Those mothers, who deem children a burden, 
have the organ small. Among twenty-nine women, who 
had committed infanticide, Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, on 
examination, found but four, in whom this organ was not 
decidedly small. There are others, again, who can 
appreciate the sentiment of Byron, that — 

" The childless cherubs well might envy me 
The pleasures of a parent ! " 



48 PHRENOLOGY. 

3d. If we examine the heads or sculls of the several 
varieties or nations of the human species, proofs will 
multiply on our hands. In negroes, the organ is gener- 
ally large, and that race are proverbially fond of offspring. 
The races of North American Indians are remarkable 
for this feeling and organ. So are the Hindoos. In the 
more cultivated Europeans, and the educated classes, 
this instinct is less predominating, and at the same time 
better assisted by intellect, and the higher sentiments. 

4th. Dr. Gall very carefully examined the sculls of 
birds and of animals, from the shrew-mouse upwards, and 
uniformly found the part of the scull appropriated to this 
organ most developed in the female. And he says he 
could distinguish the sex of an adult animal of any spe- 
cies, by comparing a brain of each sex. The organ is 
so entirely established, that it is one of the best of the 
whole for an inquirer into the truth of the science, to 
confine his attention to, in the commencement of his 
observations and researches. 

It is worthy of notice that this organ borders upon the 
organ of combativeness, and the slightest injury to this 
feeling is sufficient to excite combativeness. The female, 
when protecting her offspring, has more courage than at 
any other time, and is usually more irritable. "Touch 
my child and you touch me " is not only a sentiment, 
but a phrenological truth. 

The organ is usually large and active ; and motives 
addressed to this feeling are likely to be appreciated by 
all classes. But strong as it is, it must not be forgotten, 
that it is also blind, and needs the guidance of the higher 
sentiments and intellect. Without such guidance it may 
ruin the object of its solicitude. The spirit of the present 



ADHESIVENESS. 49 

age requires that parents, and especially mothers, should 
be enlightened, that they may judiciously bestow that 
care and attention upon their offspring, which will assist 
to make them, not only sources of true comfort to the 
parent, but enlightened and virtuous members of the 
community. The science of Anthropology, embracing 
as it does all that belongs to the human character, should 
be peculiarly the study of mothers. Then will physical, 
moral, and intellectual education be commenced as it 
should be, and the foundation laid for that great improve- 
ment in our race, which must precede the universal 
adoption of the Christian religion. The organ was large 
in Burns and Sheridan. 

IV. — Adhesiveness. 
Innatcness and analysis of the feeling, — Man is 
universally admitted to be a social being. We associate 
in society, form parties in politics, and unite in social 
worship. We form friendships, and attach ourselves to 
parents, and kindred, and also to favorite animals, to 
favorite instruments, and to favorite pursuits. These 
attachments are not transient, but lasting. Phrenologists 
claim this to arise from a peculiar and distinct feeling. 
And in so doing, they agree with common language and 
common opinion. Friendship and habit have been the 
standing and hacknied themes of the moralist and poet, 
from the earliest period of our literature. The feeling is 
stronger in some than in others. It is manifested more 
strongly in children than in the aged. It gives constancy 
to the marriage relation. It is usually stronger in the 
female than in the male. In some brute animals it is 
strong; others are solitary and dissocial. 
5 



50 PHRENOLOGY. 

Existence and location of the organ. — The organ of 
this feeling is located a little upward and outward of that 
of philoprogenitiveness. When large, it will appear as 
a circular protuberance, a little clipped on the border of 
philoprogenitiveness. Dr. Gall was the fortunate dis- 
coverer of the organ ; and facts are easily collected by 
which any one may be satisfied of its existence and loca- 
tion. It was some time before I readily recognised it on 
examination of heads, but of late have found no difficulty. 
In children the feeling is quite strong, and the organ is 
frequently decidedly marked. On female heads, also, it 
often appears large. In hundreds of instances I have 
found a large organ of adhesiveness on the the heads of 
persons, remarkable for their social feelings and personal 
attachments. I noticed it so large on the head of a 
gentleman, as to be seen easily notwithstanding a thick 
head of hair. He had recently lost his wife; and he said 
he would sooner part with all his estate than with a pic- 
ture of her. Such is the strength of his attachments. 
I will not multiply facts, because every one can find them 
for himself, by the examination of the heads of children 
remarkable for attachment to parents and others. 

Its uses. — The exercise of this feeling seems more 
necessary to personal enjoyment than any other ; it also 
forms the basis of the social compact, and of every social 
virtue. To some, protracted solitary imprisonment would 
be more terrible than death ; and solitude has some- 
times been the cause of derangement. Those, who are 
most solitary, fasten their attachments upon something, — 
they have the object of their devotion, — a book or a 
domestic animal. " Woman's whole life," says Irving, 
" is a history of the affections. The heart is her world ; 



INHABITIVENESS. 51 

it ifi there her ambition seeks for hidden treasures. She 
embarks her whole soul in the traffic of affection ; and 

if shipwrecked, her case is hopeless, for it is a bankruptcy 
of the heart." 

Its abuses are manifested in our attachments to unwor- 
thy objects, and, from its force, being led to adhere to an 
unworthy cause. 

Natural language. — The natural language of this 
feeling is manifested by throwing the head back without 
elevating it. If the object of attachment be at the side, 
the head will be involuntarily inclined towards it, and 
friends will be locked arm in arm. Other demonstrations 
are so common, as to make any further description un- 
necessary. Joining of hands has always been an emblem 
of friendship. 

V. — Inhabitiveness. 

Its innateness and analysis. — Most people, I believe, 
experience a pain, when transplanted from their native 
soil, from the home of their childhood, which has some- 
thing in it far more deep and lasting, than what is occa- 
sioned by merely severing parental and other attachments. 
A sense of desolation comes over the soul, and sickens 
the heart. We are indeed so constituted as to feel a 
peculiar attachment to our fireside, our room, our house, 
our neighbourhood, our town, our state, and our country. 
This is the first ingredient of patriotism. It is indeed 
more felt when wounded than when gratified. As a 
peculiar instinct, it is more easily recognised in the mal- 
ady of home-sickness, than in its most perfect enjoyment. 
The innateness of the feeling is proved from the differ- 
ence of individuals in regard to it. Some are indifferent 



52 PHRENOLOGY. 

to place ; — others are extremely attached to home, and 
never feel easy without one. I saw an insane person at 
the Retreat for the Insane in Hartford, who has wandered 
the world over, and is uneasy in any place; he was 
almost destitute of the feeling, and the organ was much 
depressed. I know a boy, who has the organ large, and 
he cannot be prevailed upon to leave his home. Like 
philoprogenitiveness, it is larger in the female than in 
the male. The organ is situated directly above philopro- 
genitiveness, and is one of the least of the domestic 
feelings. 

Uses. — It seems to be necessary that we should have 
such a distinct feeling, in order that every clime should 
be inhabited, and that the inhabitants should be attached 
to their own place. 

" The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone 
Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own, 
Extols the treasures of his stormy seas, 
And his long nights of revelry and ease. 
The naked negro, panting at the line, 
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine, 
Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave, 
And thanks his gods for all the good they gave. 
Such is the patriot's boast where'er we roam, 
The first, best country ever is at home." 

Campbell. 

Like the other domestic feelings, this has an indirect 
power as a propelling principle. In aid of acquisitive- 
ness, it leads to the accumulation of a fortune abroad, 
that it may be enjoyed in some favored spot called home. 
How many enterprising young men go to foreign coun- 
tries to acquire wealth, in secret hope to return in a few 
years to the home of their fathers, and there, with a 
companion, enjoy the group of domestic affections. 



COMBATIVENESS. 53 

I have not been able to find facts, which lead me fully 
to adopt the doctrine of Mr. Combe, in attributing to this 
feeling the power of concentrativeness, or of maintaining 
in simultaneous and combined activity two or more fac- 
ulties, so that they may be directed towards one object.* 
Doubtless some instinct in the brute creation, analogous 
to this propensity, inclines animals to live in some par- 
ticular location. Some seek the water from the first 
moment of their existence. Others prefer elevated and 
mountainous regions — some the plain, and some the 
marsh. Some birds build their nests and seek rest on 
the tops, and others in the holes of trees. 

VI. COMBATIVENESS. 

Analysis. — I think it will not be doubted but that 
opposition, contention, sparring, and fighting have char- 
acterized the human species in every period of their 
history. The records of the past abound in the accounts 
of the activity of this feeling, as manifested by individu- 
als, by parties, and by tribes and nations. Animals 
indicate the same spirit in their contentions for mastery. 

* I am acquainted with a gentleman in Maine, in whom the 
organ is remarkably large. He is himself an ardent phrenologist, 
and has attended to his own consciousness and natural language for 
several years, in reference to this organ. As an extemporaneous 
speaker, he has uncommon readiness, and can summon all his 
energies instantly, and when engaged is addicted to dwelling very 
long on every topic — even to repetition. His manner is to run 
his hand through his hair in the region of the organ when engaged 
in thought. I would remark that his perceptive organs in general, 
and his comparison are large. This, together with an active tem- 
perament, would doubtless do much to account for his readiness and 
fulness of illustration. 

5* 



54 PHRENOLOGY. 

The feeling rises, whenever any pain or injury ia occa- 
sioned to any other feeling, and, like a faithful sentinel, 
is ready to fight all their battles. Standing alone, when 
no other feeling is injured, it seeks its gratification in 
mastery. In repelling attack, it manifests a lower 
degree of activity, sanctionad both by positive and natural 
law. It is as truly active and distinctive in its exhibi- 
tions, in the form of argument and in shedding of ink, as 
it is in the pugilist. 

Innateness. — Does this arise from any combination of 
feelings, or is it a peculiar and distinctive propensity ? It 
almost always acts in combination. But the ingredients 
of opposition, or contention, or attack, or desire of mas- 
tery, are always sufficiently obvious. 

Its manifestations. — In combination with firmness, it 
gives the most determined perseverance in overcoming 
obstacles. With large destructiveness, it gives hardiness 
to character. With mirthfulness added, there would be 
a love of rough sports, and an inclination to sarcasm. 
In its constant quiet power, it enables one to oppose and 
resist the common obstacles, which thwart our path. 
With large reverence, it feels opposition to new doc- 
trines, in philosophy, or religion, or forms of government. 
It has an exciting power beyond every other feeling.'* 
Its nature being both to make and resist opposition, and 
also obtain mastery, it excites to the utmost, both mental 

* Mr. Scott remarks in an interesting article on this organ, that 
" all the propensities are not merely propensities, but powers ; and 
this of combativeness is eminently so. It gives not only the desire 
to contend, but the power of contending ; and without this, as an 
active principle, no other motive can induce the same species of 
exertion." 



COMBATIVENESS. 55 

and physical energy. We can discover its natural lan- 
guage, in the hard, thumping sound of the voice, as if 
every word contained a blow. Its general language is 
boldness, and, with large self-esteem and small reve- 
rence, it produces audacity. In animals, the feeling 
appears plainly in its natural language, by lifting the ear 
and swelling the neck. 

Its organ, and where located. — The organ assigned to 
this feeling is located directly back and upward from 
the ear, bordering on the tentorium, philoprogenitiveness, 
adhesiveness, cautiousness, secretiveness, and destruc- 
tiveness. It is more usually indicated large by a swell, 
running back to philoprogenitiveness and adhesiveness, 
just above the tentorium. There are many striking facts 
to prove it. Its large size may also be indicated by the 
great breadth of head between the ears, as in the cast of 
the scull of Wormser, found in the shops. Some ani- 
mals never fight, as the hare ; others are delighted with 
opportunities for battle. Among animals of the same 
species, there is a wonderful difference ; as in the case 
of the spaniel and the bull-dog. And there is a corre- 
sponding difference in their organization. 

Uses. — When in due proportion, it rescues the char- 
acter from cowardice, and the two great influence of 
cautiousness. When small, the individual always feels 
great difficulty in overcoming opposition, resisting at- 
tacks, and encountering the prejudices of the world. 

The effect of this organ, in cases of partial insanity, is 
quite peculiar. As this feeling enlists readily in the 
cause of all the feelings, so, if disease begins in any of 
the organs, combatn eness soon becomes affected. — 
Hence combativeness is almost always affected soon after 



56 PHRENOLOGY. 

derangement commences. Hence too. to say one is mad 
and crazy frequently means the same thing. 

VII. — Secretiveness. 

Analysis and innateness of the instinct. — We all must 
have noticed in individuals a disposition to conceal their 
thoughts, feelings, expressions of countenance, and the 
condition of their affairs, and to be assuming an appear- 
ance, expression, manner, and mode of address, calcu- 
lated to deceive you. And at the same time, if you 
converse with them, you will begin to feel as if you were 
under an inquisition, and they will be constantly leading 
your mind to points, about which propriety requires you 
to be reserved. Such people will consider almost every 
thing confidential, and yet never actually confide any 
thing, which it would do the least harm for all the world 
to know. Such people talk, not to express truly their 
thoughts and feelings, but to conceal them. They feel 
as if every thing must be managed, that there must be 
contrivance and stratagem, and every thing with them 
has a regular built plot. Indirect lying, false coloring, 
misrepresenting, withholding part and communicating 
part, — equivocal and non-committal language, apparent 
fairness and frankness, — these and a thousand more are 
but parts of the machinery used. These characteristics 
of mind are sometimes called cunning, prudence, discre- 
tion, &c. " And phrenologists believe that they arise 
principally from a too active state of one of the selfish 
feelings of our nature, by them denominated secretive- 
ness. In a due and suitable degree of activity, this 
propensity becomes highly useful, as it enables us to hold 
on to our thoughts, feelings, and plans, until the intellect 



SECRETIVENESS. 51 

and the other feelings have given sanction to the com- 
munication of them. 

Burns seems to have had the feeling active in that 
due degree, which should regulate the intercourse of 
friendship, and of the world at large. 

" Ay free aff han' your story tell, 

When wi 1 a bosom erony ; 
But still keep something to yoursel' 

Y\ scarcely tell to ony. 
Conceal yoursel' as weel 's ye can 

Frae critical dissection ; 
But keek thro' ev'ry other man 

Wi' sharpen'd slee inspection." 

Some may not see why such a distinct elementary 
principle should exist. A short view of the defensive 
and selfish nature of man, from a comparison of the feel- 
ings, will show its precise position. Combativeness 
repels injury and seeks mastery, but not destruction. 
Destructiveness likes no long argument, but excites to a 
determination to destroy and demolish. Cautiousness 
leads us to provide direct means of defence, and do all 
carefully. Secrctivcncss excites to arts of stratagem, con- 
cealment, and deception. If we were to meet an enemy, 
whom we were desirous to prevent from injuring us, we 
might be conscious of the simultaneous activity and 
influence of all these feelings, and different individuals 
would adopt different courses, just according to their 
peculiar organization. 

The organ, and where located. — The organ is large, 
and is situated immediately above destructiveness in the 
middle lateral portion of the brain. When secretiveness 
and destructiveness are both large, the lower middle 



58 PHRENOLOGY. 

portion of the head is characterized by a general fulness. 
I have noticed the organ when large and when small, 
and compared it with the characteristics of the feeling, 
as manifested in both of these states, and am entirely 
satisfied of its existence and correct location. I have 
seldom seen it large, where there were not other selfish 
organs large, such as love of approbation, or self-esteem, 
or acquisitiveness, or constructiveness, or destructiveness. 
It is indeed near the centre of the side organs, and when 
the head in general is characterized by great breadth, 
this organ will be likely to be large. The individual will 
be profoundly selfish, and characterized for tact, savoir 
faire, prudence, cunning, slyness, and stratagem. There 
are casts in the shops illustrative of its existence, loca- 
tion, and size. When the organ is small and feeble, the 
person will express every feeling on his countenance, will 
communicate all his thoug'hts and plans, and be always 
betraying himself. You can see to the bottom, as in a 
clear, limpid stream. Bonaparte had the organ very 
large, and when he thought himself closely observed, he 
had the power of discharging from his countenance all 
expression, save that of a vague and indefinite smile, and 
presenting to the spectator the fixed eyes and rigid fea- 
tures of a marble bust. It is usually large and active in 
successful actors. I examined the head of H * * *, the 
comedian, who gives the primitive yankee character so 
well, and found the organ of secretiveness large. I am 
acquainted with a lady whose countenance, when in a 
situation to be noticed, always carries the same indefina- 
ble, unmeaning smile, and the appearance of candor 
personified. A love affair disclosed her true disposition. 
In her the organ is large, almost to a deformity. The 



ACQUISITIVENESS. 59 

design of this work will not permit me to dwell upon the 
uses and abuses of this feeling with its combinations. 

The instinct is manifested in brides. — Foxes, dogs, 
and cats sometimes manifest the feeling. The fox, in 
approaching the poultry, will not go in a way to be ob- 
served. The dog conceals his bone, the cat secretly 
steals upon her prey. Birds build their nests so as not 
to be discovered. 

VIII. — Acquisitiveness. 

Innatcness and analysis. — An attentive observer of 
the actions of mankind must have noticed conduct, 
which could not have sprung from any motive, but a 
peculiar and primitive, instinctive desire of acquiring, 
hoarding, or of self-appropriation, without limitation of 
manner or of object. Cases of petty theft are numerous, 
committed by those, who must have done it purely from 
the abuse of a primitive instinct. The instinct to acquire 
belongs to dogs, squirrels, bees, &,c, and not to many 
other animals. Although active in infancy, there are after 
periods before early manhood, in which the feeling is 
little excited, and loses much of its force. But in later 
life it becomes strong, and often acquires an ascendency 
over the whole character in old age. Numerous indi- 
vidual cases might be named, which would tend to 
demonstrate the existence of the propensity. Petty theft 
is not so unusual as we should imagine. I know of a 
beautiful young lady, well educated, always accustomed 
to the first society, and never in a condition of want, and 
who, nevertheless, was guilty of little thefts from her 
youth. These were winked at, and no exposure made, 
until she took another lady's pocket book, as it lay upon 



60 PHRENOLOGY. 

the counter of a store, where both had happened for the 
purpose of trade. Goods are frequently stolen from the 
stores of merchants ; — clerks frequently take small sums 
from their master's drawers for spending money. Some 
men too, devote their whole lives to the acquisition of 
gain, declaring that the pleasure consists more in the 
acquisition, than any one could enjoy in spending it. 
Many remarkable cases of theft have been collected by 
Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, from a king to the lowest 
subject, ranging through all classes, not even escaping 
ministers of religion. 

The organ, and its location. — The organ, as located 
by Spurzheim, may be looked for above secretiveness, 
and between cautiousness and ideality. The general 
position will always be found to be essentially the same ; 
but in low heads, in which the propensities all decidedly 
predominate, the organ is likely to be pushed out most 
in its lower edge, and in high heads, in which the higher 
sentiments predominate, the upper portion will appear 
most distinct ; and as the organ is large, this may appear 
to affect its position. Hence the slight difference be- 
tween Dr. Spurzheim and Mr. Combe. The facts col- 
lected to establish the organ are as numerous as those 
which prove the propensity. They are both positive and 
negative. Those, who have the organ large, are never 
found to be indifferent to acquisition — it may be money 
— it may be property in general, it may may be antiqui- 
ties, or curiosities, or scientific collections, according to 
the influence of external circumstances, habit, employ- 
ment, or the predominance of other organs. I cannot 
believe that the gathering of knowledge directly gratifies 
the feeling, although it may do so indirectly. Theft is 



ACQUISITIVENESS. 61 

always to be considered as an abuse of that organ, 
although it is not necessarily large in all thieves. Thiev- 
ing may arise from a deficiency of conscientiousness and 
other higher sentiments. 

Remarks. — Law writers and philosophers have puzzled 
themselves much to determine whence the first notions 
of property were derived. Blackstone, in his Commen- 
taries, has an ingenious, elaborate chapter on this subject. 
But an analysis of the instinctive feeling of self-appro- 
priation explains it readily. The desire of property is an 
original instinct of our nature, and the laws on this sub- 
ject should be made so as not to do violence, either to 
this feeling, or to any of the higher principles. The 
necessity for this primitive instinct may be inferred from 
the fact, that it is connected with self-preservation . We 
have constant wants to be satisfied by the uses of what 
may be brought within the comprehensive idea of 
property. An instinct seems necessary to excite the 
intellect to a suitable degree of activity in reference to 
property, and thereby balance the force of other strong 
impulses. 

With those who can reason, acquisitiveness is not the 
only organ which may excite the mind to the accumula- 
tion of wealth. The possession of property furnishes an 
indirect gratification to many of the feelings. It is to 
the trappings and glitter of wealth, that the blind rever- 
ence of the most numerous classes is turned, while in 
other countries it looks to the throne and titled nobility. 
Talents and learning are objects of respect, especially 
in connexion with wealth and rank. So are birth and 
office, but it was the sentiment (perhaps somewhat preju- 
diced sentiment) of Fisher Ames, that our citizens have 
G 



62 PHRENOLOGY. 

not been accustomed to look on rank, or titles, or birth, 
or office, as capable of the least rivalship with wealth, 
mere wealth, in pretensions to respect. u Of course/' 
says he, " the single passion which engrosses us, the only 
avenue to consideration and importance, in our society, 
is the accumulation of property. Our inclinations cling 
to gold, and are bedded in it as deeply, as that precious 
ore in the mines." 

IX. — Constructiveness. 

Innateness and analysis. — That there is in men a pro- 
pensity to construct, without limitation of manner or 
object, and in several brute animals a limited and peculiar 
instinct, to construct after a determinate and specified 
manner, it is presumed no one will doubt. Children 
early manifest this feeling in those little rude structures, 
which occupy their playful moments. And we cannot 
look abroad for a moment without noticing the wonder- 
fully multiplied trophies of man's skill, from the simplest 
household implement up to the splendid ship of war, or 
the temple erected to the Most High. If we look abroad 
among the brute creation, we shall be struck with the 
constructive power of the bird, the bee, and the beaver. 

The power being admitted, our evidence, that it springs 
from a peculiar instinct bestowed for that purpose, rests 
principally on the following considerations. The power 
belongs to one kind of animals, and not to another. The 
different degrees, in which different individuals possess 
the desire and the power of constructing, is not commen- 
surate with any other faculty of the same individual. It 
is capable of becoming diseased, — and descends, as a 
peculiar family trait, from one generation to another. In 
childhood the feeling is more active than in after life. 



CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 68 

The organ, and its location. — The precise location of 
the feeling in ordinary heads would not be obvious to 
learners in the practice of the science. It is seldom so 
full as to present a protuberance. And where the talent 
seems to have been hereditary , the development does not 
always fully indicate its predominating influence on the 
character. I have found it safe therefore to say, that 
the talent exists where the organ is large, but not to deny 
it, where it externally appears no more than average. 
We must not forget that the province of the organ is only 
to manifest the desire, and excite the intellect to its grat- 
ification. Hence the power of constructing results from 
the size of the organ in question, the adaptation and 
extent of intellectual power, and the force of habit or 
experience. We should distinguish between construction 
and invention. Invention requires superior intellect, as 
well as an active organ of constructiveness. Merely to 
construct, what others have invented, requires less of 
intellectual power in general, and more 01 the force of 
habit or skill. 

I know a young artist who possesses the organ to a 
remarkable degree, and in him its effect is to excite and 
direct his intellect to execute very perfectly, what he 
undertakes in his profession. I also know a young man, 
in whom the talent seems to have been hereditary. He 
has wonderful inventive genius, but does not execute 
what he has contrived. In him the organ is not very 
large, but the intellectual faculties are remarkably fine, 
and he has a fine, sanguine, and nervous temperament. 

There is no point of character so intimately connected 
with high civilization, as that of constructive power. 
The New-Hollanders have not sufficient mechanical skill 



64 PHRENOLOGY. 

to build themselves houses, or prepare clothing, or 
furnish themselves with the simplest tools ; and they 
are represented l^y geographers, as among the most mis- 
erable of the human race. Compare them with the 
Europeans, and the difference is astonishing ; but not 
more so, than the difference in the form of their heads, 
in those regions where the organs, on which the manifes- 
tation of the power depends, are situated. 

Genus II. — Sentiments. 

The sentiments are of two kinds, and are distinguished 
as the lower and higher sentiments. The lower senti- 
ments are cautiousness, approbativeness, and self-esteem. 
They are termed sentiments, because they join to the 
mere propensity an emotion. 

X. — Cautiousness. 

Innateness and analysis. — Most people know more or 
less of that feeling, which we term anxiety, although it 
is much stronger in some than in others. The feeling is 
not limited to any one object, and is not occupied solely 
upon either what has been done, what we are doing, or 
what we expect of the future. It is excited by every 
circumstance, which has the power to affect our condi- 
tion, or the condition of any of the objects of our feel- 
ings. We are indeed surrounded by dangers, difficulties, 
and temptations, arising from the darkness of our intel- 
lectual faculties, the cross and irregular impulses of 
opposing passions, and the multiplied and ever varied 
influences of external circumstances. The petition in 
the Lord's Prayer, " Lead us not into temptation, but 
deliver us from evil," is a natural expression, suggested 
by the primitive sentiment of cautiousness. 



CAUTIOUSNESS. 65 

Cautiousness is not the only feeling excited by the 
dangers of our situation, although, when compared with 
the others, its influence will be seen to be necessary, and 
to harmonize beautifully with them. Destructiveness 
would impulsively excite to annihilate, demolish, and 
destroy the objects which are dangerous or troublesome. 
Combativeness would excite us to contend, give battle, 
and to overcome opposition. Secretiveness suggests 
thoughts and plans of stratagem and deception. And 
cautiousness, acting purely under its own impulses, ex- 
cites us to discovery of the means of safety. It would 
seem to say, take care, — be watchful and circumspect. 

From the extensive sphere of activity, for this feeling, 
(possessing, as it does, a sort of guardian care over all 
the impulses of our nature, and watchfulness against all 
the dangers of our condition,) we should suppose that its 
organ would be large, — and so indeed it is. 

The organ, and its location. — The location of this 
feeling is in the upper lateral hind part of the head, near 
the middle of the parietal bone. It is usually larger than 
any other feeling, stationed as it is in a manner to be 
affected by the juxtaposition of the domestic feelings, in 
the occipital region, of the selfish feelings on the side, 
and the higher and lower sentiments, in the sincipital 
region. And it seems to modify the character of all the 
feelings, especially those situated on its borders. It is 
easily discovered. 

Observations made upon the developments of the part 
of the head assigned as the seat of this organ, in all the 
various methods by which organs are regarded as proved, 
concur in establishing this. In children, it is usually 
larger than in adults. Some adults are much more 
6* 



66 PHRENOLOGY. 

cautious than others, and the most cautious have the 
organ in question correspondingly developed. The 
heads of females are more developed at the organ of 
cautiousness than males, and they too are usually more 
cautious. It is proved by observations upon the insane, 
upon different nations, upon animals of different species, 
and also upon different animals of the same species. 
The evidence, by which it may be proved, can be col- 
lected very easily. I have made several thousand obser- 
vations upon the organ, and found its size to correspond 
with the character, in this respect. 

XI. — Approbativeness. 

Analysis. — We may notice, among the individuals 
of our acquaintance, very great differences in their 
desires of notice or distinction. Approbativeness indi- 
cates a desire to be approved as well as noticed. But 
this feeling does not necessarily seek approval. Every 
man, who reasons, or feels correctly, would think it 
desirable to be approved as well as noticed by others. 
Success in life depends upon it. All the higher feel- 
ings are gratified by it. But the primitive feeling, to 
which our attention is now called, is that desire of 
distinction, notice, recognition, or praise, which attends 
upon public situations and pursuits. When strong, it 
becomes a love of glory. This feeling seeks various 
ways of gratification ; as by the possession of office, 
power, wealth, splendid dress, or establishments, or fur- 
niture, or by being a public individual in any way. An 
individual once confessed to me, that he could not bear 
the thought of dying without being known ; and he was 
constantly doing things, which excited public attention, 



APPROBATIVENESS. 67 

and even censure, and seemed gratified by so doing. 
Does this arise from a primitive sentiment ? Phrenolo- 
gists believe that it does, and consider its organ estab- 
lished. 

The organ, wlicrc located. — This organ is situated 
outward, and partly round the organ of self-esteem, and 
generally either elongates the posterior upper lateral part 
of the head, or spreads out on each side so as to produce 
a large table in that region. Phrenologists have made 
very many observations upon this organ, and have no 
doubts of its correct location. In the individual above 
noticed, the organ was large. An experienced phrenolo- 
gist can generally judge correctly, whether an individual 
would be desirous of public life, or indifferent to it. The 
relative size of this organ, and that of acquisitiveness, 
usually does much in determining, whether an individual 
will be the mere private citizen, seeking wealth in a still, 
quiet way, or whether he will be seeking public life. 

When this feeling becomes very strong and is not 
properly checked, it will show itself by gross vanity or 
egotism. The vain are as egotistical and selfish as the 
proud. It leads to the desire of distinction so strongly, 
and tends to excite thought and observation upon the 
notice taken of one so much, that a belief is superin- 
duced, that all the world have little else to think, or 
speak of. 

I saw in the Retreat for the Insane, at Hartford, Con- 
necticut, an individual named Wilcox, who was de- 
ranged in this organ, as also in that of self-esteem. A 
gentleman, who was with me, entered into conversation 
with him, upon which the maniac inquired of him if he 
was ever in Vermont. The gentleman replied in the 



68 PHRENOLOGY. 

affirmative. (i Well," said he, " was not every body 
talking about Elihu Wilcox 1 " In his head the organs of 
self-esteem and love of approbation were both very large. 
I think that love of notice, recognition, distinction, praise, 
fame, and glory indicate but the different degrees of the 
strength and activity of the same primitive feeling ; and 
this primitive feeling seeks for gratification in people of 
all ranks, and becomes as much a want of our nature as 
food or society. 

The speech of Henry V. before the battle of Agin- 
court, illustrates the sentiment : — 

" He that outlives this day, and sees old age, 
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, 
And say, to-raorrow is St. Crispian ; 
Then will he strip his sleeve, and show his scars. 
Old men forget, yet shall not all forget, 
And they '11 remember, with advantages, 
What feats they did that day. Then shall our names 
Familiar in their mouths as household words, 
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, 
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester, 
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered. 
This story shall the good man teach his son : 
And Crispian's day shall ne'er go by, 
From this time to the ending of the world, 
But we and it shall be remembered. 

# # * * 

And gentlemen in England, now abed, 
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here : 
And hold their manhood cheap, while any speak, 
That fought with us upon St. Crispian's day." 

XII. — Self-Esteem. 

Innateness. — It will not be denied, that our self-esti- 
mations are frequently accompanied by a certain appear- 



SELF-ESTEEM. 69 

ance thrown over the whole natural expression, indicating 
that we are under the influence of a certain emotion. 
It receives the appellation of self-satisfaction, self-content, 
self-esteem, self-respect, pride, haughtiness, self-glory, 
&x., just as it is active in degree, or manifested in con- 
nexion with other feelings. Those manifestations, termed 
pride, or haughtiness, arise from a too active state of the 
feeling, or from a want of a properly balanced manifes- 
tation of this with all the feelings. 

As a desire, the same feeling seeks power and self- 
importance. A man with large self-esteem will not be 
likely to doubt his own talents, and will be shy to expose 
his ignorance or weakness before those, whom he is 
obliged to consider his superiors. His conceptions of 
himself will be upon a large scale, and he will seek to 
give others a tremendous impression of himself. And to 
do this, those whom he addresses should not possess the 
same large self-esteem ; for if they do, he will be particu- 
larly offensive to their self-esteem. Two men, with large 
self-esteem and equal pretensions, will be natural enemies. 
Innateness of this feeling is proved from several con- 
siderations. 1st. The strength of this, as of the other 
primitive feelings, differs astonishingly in different indi- 
viduals. Some seem strangers to the feeling. In such 
you will find a striking depression at the part of the head 
where the organ is located. 2d. Observation shows it to 
be more usually large in males than in females. 3d. It 
also exists, in a modified form, in some animals, as the 
horse, the turkey, and the peacock. 4th. It differs in 
strength in different nations. The English are said to 
have more self-esteem, and less love of distinction, than 
the French. In the lower classes the deficiency of the 
organ is very common. 



70 PHRENOLOGY. 

Location of the organ. — The organ is situated at the 
largest part upward and backward from the ear, and may 
be known to be large, when the head rises high and 
extends far backward in this region. When that region 
of the head appears deficient, the organ is small. 

The natural language of this sentiment is so distinctly 
noticeable, that every child observes it. The head and 
body are thrown a little back, and sometimes with one 
foot forward. If you excite the feeling strongly in one 
who has it large, while he is sitting, you will probably 
raise him out of his chair. Those who have it large, will 
associate with their seniors, and seek society above their 
rank, although this latter manifestation of it, will be 
where there is deficient respect for others. Those, in 
whom self-esteem is too small, are apt to think too little 
of themselves. Their judgments in relation to this sub- 
ject will be defective, and indeed, as they take no delight 
in self-contemplation, they will be found to be very igno- 
rant of their own feelings and character. Such people 
have generally groped their way through the world igno- 
rant of their powers, and submissive to the self-esteem of 
others. They never care to be leaders. 

Any undue manifestation of this feeling is very offen- 
sive to most people, and hence very little is ever said to 
encourage it. General remarks, calculated to excite it 
promiscuously, would do great mischief. Hence, what- 
ever we say on this subject, we always apply to the case 
in hand. The humble, lowly, and depressed .may be 
encouraged, and assured, that they have powers of which 
they are unconscious. We should endeavour to intro- 
duce them to themselves. On the other hand, when 
addressing those who seem to possess too much of this 



BENEVOLENCE. 71 

feeling, we may cautiously suggest, that they are in 
danger of over-estimating themselves, and that, if en- 
couraged, their self-esteem will bring them into many 
dillic ul ties. 

Self-esteem, more perhaps than any other feeling, 
should be a well regulated and enlightened principle. 
The intellect should fix the standard, and the feeling 
should assist us to maintain it under all circumstances. 
Self-ignorance is the cause of the odious manifestation 
of self-esteem. Let it be active, in harmony with all 
the other sentiments, and it confers great dignity upon 
character. When in adversity, we need its utmost power, 
to balance those other feelings which have become mor- 
bidly excited. When in prosperity, we should watch 
over it constantly, or it will lead us into a snare. 

XIII. — Benevolence. 

Innateness and analysis. — There is, it will be admit- 
ted, in the character of many people a disposition to 
sympathize with, and take an interest in, the condition 
of any of the human family, and even the sufferings of 
brute animals. This feeling is not adhesiveness, as this 
onlv attaches us to, and interests us in, our friends, or 
party, or society. Neither is it philoprogenitiveness, for 
this feeling only extends to children and young animals. 
Nor is it inhabitiveness, for this only attaches us to our 
place, our home, our town, or country. It is a broader 
feeling, going out upon, and embracing the whole 
human family, and also the suffering brute animal. 
Excited towards the vicious, it is compassion, towards 
the suffering, it is sympathy, to all mankind, it is 
philanthropy. In gifts, it is almsgiving ; in needful 



72 PHRENOLOGY. 

attentions to the feelings of others, it is kindness or 
good-will. Fenelon distinguished between patriotism and 
philanthropy, when he said, " I am a true Frenchman, 
and love my country, but I love mankind better than my 
country." 

When this feeling is active, it produces a warmth of 
manner, and directness of purpose, quite distinguishable 
from that air of coldness and constraint, connected with 
those mock acts of kindness which proceed from love of 
approbation. 

This feeling is also characterized by exciting thoughts, 
and producing actions connected with its gratification, 
and thus it becomes a strong principle of action. Some- 
times it leads us to think somewhat too charitably of the 
conduct and motives of others, and to attend more to their 
interests than our own. It gives amiability to disposition, 
and produces a most delightful feeling, and amiable ex- 
pression of countenance. This we term Benevolence. 

The existence of the benevolent principle, arising from 
a primitive sentiment, has been denied by many philoso- 
phers, while others have contended for its existence. 
But phrenologists have proved the existence of the feel- 
ing, and its organ, by thousands of observations. The 
advocates of the selfish system are principally of two 
classes. The first are those who are decidedly selfish, 
and have the organ small. They are in the situation of 
the blind man in reference to colors. They can never 
be convinced of their error by appeals to their own con- 
sciousness. If, however, they will recollect that the 
organs of the faculties are distinct, and that these, when 
differently modified, produce different results, they may 
be able to conceive, that others are influenced by mo- 



BENEVOLENCE. 73 

tives, which they themselves are unable to appreciate. 
Perhaps this is too much to expect of such people. Of 
what use would it be to attempt to convince a Tiberius, 
a Carracalla, a Caligula, or a Nero, a Danton, or Robes- 
pierre, by appeals to their own feelings, that there is in 
man a benevolent principle ? 

Another class disbelieve in a benevolent principle, 
from mistaken views of its nature. Such will admit that 
they do acts of benevolence, and feel a delight in them. 
But they say this delight gives a selfish satisfaction. 
They mistake the motive. When the object of charity 
is present, he becomes the moving cause, and excites the 
benevolent principle into action ; the delight, which fol- 
lows, springs from the exercise of the feeling called out, 
and is only an unthought-of consequence, and not a mov- 
ing principle. If the act were charitable, but was not 
produced by the activity of the benevolent impulse, the 
delight would not be experienced. Some other feeling, 
such as self-esteem, love of approbation, or adhesiveness, 
may be gratified, and this will furnish a kind of pleasure. 
But it is not the delight experienced by those, who enjoy 
the glowing and lofty impulses of the benevolent emo- 
tion. 

We have not said, that every one will readily recognise 
in himself the above principle. One of the proofs of its 
existence as a separate sentiment rests on the fact, that 
it appears to be strong in some, and very feeble in others, 
with the corresponding difference in the form of the 
head. And to show that this does not happen from 
difference in education, or external circumstances, we 
shall find the same difference noticeable among children 
in the same family, and among the uneducated, influ- 
7 



74 PHRENOLOGY. 

enced by the same external circumstances. National 
differences are equally striking. Some brute animals 
have it in a modified form, and others have nothing of it. 
In cases of insanity, and inebriation, not very unlike 
insanity, we sometimes see the feeling manifested very 
distinctly. 

A comprehensive view of human nature will enable us 
to see, that without benevolence, and constituted as we 
are in all other things, the character would be mutilated, 
and destitute of balance ; selfishness, and cruelty, and 
deceit would characterize man universally. The great 
principle of love to mankind, of that charity, which " suf- 
fereth long and is kind, envieth not, vaunteth not itself, 
is not puffed up, doth not behave unseemly, seeketh 
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, 
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth," would be 
entirely wanting. The oi*gan is situated at the upper 
part of the frontal bone, in the coronal aspect, between 
the forehead and the fontanel. 

XIV. — Reverence. 

Analysis. — Many people experience a peculiar emo- 
tion, when they come into the presence of others, who, 
frqm any thing in their appearance or station, make an 
impression of superiority or greatness, either intellectual 
or moral, or of extensive learning. Writings, possessing 
any form of superiority, excite the same feeling. Every 
thing ancient excites a feeling, commonly termed ven- 
eration. Actions, which are great and splendid, excite 
the same sentiment towards the author of them. We 
respect many things strongly addressed to the external 
senses ; as a majestic figure, or the paraphernalia and 



REVERENCE. 75 

insignia of office. Rank, ancestry, and wealth excite the 
feeling. So the laws and institutions of society, power- 
ful id their effect upon our destiny, and efficient for 
our protection, excite the same feeling. In all this, the 
essential element is greatness or power. 

The ignorant may be made to believe that there is 
something great and powerful, in what others would 
consider as small, insignificant, and ridiculous. Any 
thing possessing, or believed to possess, the elements of 
greatness or power, becomes the object which excites 
this specific feeling. 

The degree, in which it is excited, and the name, by 
which the feeling will be designated, will depend on the 
object. Men respect persons and things, venerate age 
and antiquity, and adore Deity. The direction, in which 
this feeling will habitually manifest itself, so as to char- 
acterize the person, will depend upon the peculiarity of 
his organization in general, and the influences, which have 
habitually acted upon it. Its excitability and intensity 
will be found to depend on the same laws, which govern 
the manifestations of the other feelings. Many of the 
objects of respect and veneration are conventional, and 
vary very much in different places and under different 
circumstances. Those things, which we have always 
seen treated as objects of respect, and which from youth 
we have been taught to respect, will habitually excite the 
feeling ; and we cannot cease to respect them, without 
doing violence to the feeling. 

All things are governed by superior power, and obedi- 
ence belongs to inferiors in power. Hence obedience 
follows reverence. We may submit where we do not 
reverence, but cannot obey. Where the sentiment of 



76 PHRENOLOGY. 

reverence is weak, the principle of obedience will be so 
too. Reformers are usually deficient in this sentiment. 
The stronger, too, a man's consciousness of power is, 
the fewer persons and things will appear more powerful 
than himself. Hence, large self-esteem is not favorable 
to obedience : reverence will be strongest and least en- 
lightened, and obedience the most willing, where self- 
esteem is very small, reverence and faith are very large, 
and knowledge and the higher intellect very deficient. 
Such will believe blindly, and reverence and submit to 
all that they see and feel to be great. 

It will be seen that the common meaning, attached to 
the word reverence, falls very short of that, which is at- 
tached to it by phrenologists. 

The innateness of the sentiment , and its organ. — The 
existence of the sentiment under consideration must be 
universally admitted. But that it is an elementary prin- 
ciple, and connected with, and manifested by, a distinct 
organ, must be proved by the observation of facts. We 
notice very great differences in individuals, in relation 
to the strength of this sentiment. Some are naturally 
very diffident, or inclined to respect the laws and usages 
of society, public opinion, the character of the aged, — 
the ancients, &c. Some also are eminently devout. 
Others, again, pay little attention to these things. 

There are national differences in regard to the feeling 
in question. In the Negro race, and in the inhabitants 
of Catholic countries, the organ is large. 

Observations upon heads in general will demonstrate 
that those, who are remarkable for any of the traits of 
character above described, have the part of the head, 
designated as the organ of reverence, very large. But it 



REVERENCE. 77 

never will be in the power of a phrenologist to judge, in 
what manner the feeling will manifest itself in a given 
case, without knowing the influences which have acted 
on the character. External influences arc perhaps more 
likely to produce peculiarity of character in this than in 
any other sentiment. In the management of these cir- 
cumstances, so as to bring them properly to bear upon 
this part of character, and to secure an enlightened and 
elevated respect for the things of time, and true and 
devout reverence towards the Almighty, we find a vast 
field of labor for the parent, teacher, philanthropist, 
ruler, and divine. It is usually a large organ in those, 
who are habitually attentive to, and fervent in, prayer. 
In this sentiment is centred the greater part of what is 
termed religious feeling. There are, however, many 
other feelings, which strongly bear upon and modify the 
feeling, such as faith, hope, ideality, firmness, and be- 
nevolence, — but more especially, faith or marvellous- 
ness. The organ of reverence may be large in an infi- 
del, and small in a sincere Christian. An individual 
may be inclined to venerate and to respect, but may not 
believe the Christian religion ; and therefore its precepts 
and institutions will not be to him objects of veneration. 
Others, again, may believe the Christian religion firmly, 
and attend to its active duties strictly, and not be re- 
markable for devotional feeling. Whitefield had a small 
organ of reverence, as has also an eminent divine at the 
West, yet we should not doubt their piety. In all the 
cases, where I have seen eminent devotion to religion, 
with a moderately developed organ of reverence, I have 
found a large organ of marvellousness. The feeling of 
reverence delights in periodical and suitable exercise, as 
7* 



78 PHRENOLOGY. 

much as any other feeling. The great object, to which 
it goes forth in all its energy, is Deity. 

Its natural language is bowing, deference, stooping, 
kneeling, or prostration. It induces to obedience, and its 
natural language is expressive of submission. 

XV. — Firmness. 

Innateness. — We all must have noticed a character- 
istic of mind, designated by the various names of per- 
severance, firmness, obstinacy, &lc. Such a feeling- 
would seem necessary to complete the character ; else we 
should be fickle, changeable, and easily stopped or 
diverted from our undertakings. But those, who have the 
feeling strong, unwillingly relinquish a pursuit or opinion. 
They also unwillingly yield or submit to others. The 
feeling is more easily described in some of its leading 
manifestations than analyzed. I would define it to be 
that sentiment, which, when active, gives force to resolu- 
tions, and steadiness and uniformity to the irregular and 
conflicting impulses of other feelings. It is manifested 
also in a desire to hold on to whatever we are engaged 
in, in spite of the unsteady pressure of circumstances. 
It might not be unaptly compared to the fly-wheel in 
machinery. Any attack upon our opinions and purposes 
serves to excite it, and increase its force. In adversity 
and distress, it will give fortitude and patience. Obser- 
vations made by phrenologists have established this as a 
primitive principle. The different degress, in which this 
feeling is manifested by different people, with the corre- 
sponding developments, is a proof of its existence. 
Observations upon stubborn children, and those of a 
yielding disposition, will furnish additional proof. It is 



FIRMNESS. 79 

usually a stronger feeling in males than in females. 
There are striking differences in national character on 
this point. 

The oi'gan is situated on what is usually the highest 
point of the head, directly back of a vertical line drawn 
from the orifice of the ear. 

The regulating feeling should itself be regulated, or 
there is great danger to be apprehended from it. It is 
necessary to great enterprises. No man has distinguished 
himself for the influence he has had over othej^ minds, 
unless he has possessed to a high degree the characteris- 
tic of firmness. Men, who have the feeling small, will 
be changeable and vacillating in character, entering 
upon a pursuit, perhaps with great avidity, and following 
it for a while with commendable zeal, until near accom- 
plishing their purpose, and then fly away to something 
else. Such men do not obtain, and long retain, the lead 
in public affairs. 

Large firmness, self-esteem, and combativeness, will 
give great desire for command. Those, who reluctantly 
yield their plans and opinions to others, will endeavour 
to make others yield to them. 

As a quality of perseverance, it is peculiarly necessary 
in litigation, and its abuse lays the foundation for much 
of the contention of the law. Obstinacy in error is to be 
lamented, but in a good cause it becomes a virtue. The 
martyrs were distinguished for firmness and conscien- 
tiousness. A portrait of John Rogers, the martyr, shows 
these organs to have been very large in him. 

Both Drs. Gall and Spurzheim were remarkable for 
their firmness of character, and the organ was very large 
in the heads of both. 



80 PHRENOLOGY. 

Natural language, — When firmness is large, its ten- 
dency is to make the head and body perfectly erect, 
and it gives a peculiar hardness to manner, unless the 
person have been much in society, and have also large 
reverence, and love of approbation. In speech, the voice 
will be emphatic. Such persons find it difficult to enter 
into the feelings of another quick, or to feel new emotions 
suddenly. Former emotions are not readily changed for 
others. It uses the emphatic I will, and shuts the mouth 
closely. It is peremptory. 

XVI. — Conscientiousness. 

Analysis.- — Conscientiousness, like all the sentiments, 
is blind, and has no power to discriminate between right 
and wrong ; — this is the work of the intellect, excited 
by the feeling in question. And when we are taught to 
believe, and do in fact believe, that any thing done is 
right or wrong, the feeling of conscientiousness is active 
in view of it. When the feeling is strong, it will call 
the intellect to view actions critically, in reference to the 
question of justice ; and such, as possess the feeling 
strongly, will be much roused when an injury is received. 
When the feeling is small, the individual may inquire 
whether a thing will be popular, whether it will please 
his friends, whether it will be honorable, or charitable, 
but will think nothing about the question, Is it right ? 
People, who have but small conscientiousness, may do 
right from the imperfect moral character of other feel- 
ings, but do not because they feel it a conscientious duty 
so to do. 

It will be seen from this, that conscientiousness is 
liable to abuse, even when strong and active, provided 



CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 81 

the intellect be weak or unenlightened. The Hindoo 
mother may be as conscientious, when she commits her 
infant to the Ganges, as is the Christian mother, who 
carefully rears her child, and instructs it in the principles 
of Christianity. 

I intend to give a view of conscience in another place. 
See definitions. 

Innatt ness. — Is there such a distinct elementary prin- 
ciple, with its corresponding organ ? This question 
(whether there is an innate sense of right and wrong) 
has long been a subject of dispute among philosophers, 
but has been practically admitted in society, because it 
is often deeply felt. It is not strange that such difference 
of opinion should exist among writers, who give them- 
selves no trouble to gather facts, but who judge merely 
from their own feelings. Those, who have the feeling 
but in a feeble degree, and the morality of whose actions 
springs from other principles, such as self-esteem, love of 
approbation, benevolence, or any form of selfishness, 
would be likely to deny the innateness of the feeling. 
Hence Hobbes, who flourished about the middle of the 
seventeenth century, referred our approval of virtuous 
actions to self-love, on the ground that what improves 
society improves ourselves, and that the civil laws are 
the ultimate standard of morality. Mandeville was also 
a believer in the selfish system. Hume attributed all 
judgments of actions to a sense of utility. Cudworth, 
Hutchinson, Reid, Stewart, and Brown admit the faculty 
in question. Dr. Gall referred the sentiment to benevo- 
lence. But Dr. Spurzheim has demonstrated the feeling 
and its corresponding organ by so many facts, that the 
organ is no longer considered doubtful. I have made 



82 PHRENOLOGY. 

many observations upon this organ. I have in a few 
instances seen it exceedingly small, even among the 
higher classes, and in such cases I have found a defi- 
ciency in the sentiment. This was the case of a Mr. 

G , who, at the time I saw him, was in the Lunatic 

Asylum at Hartford. I saw a remarkable depression of 
that organ in a man of great wealth and high standing. 
His head was bald, and the depression might be seen by 
a favorable light at a distance of thirty feet. I have 
seen it very large in several instances. It is more fre- 
quently large in children. Those who have it very large 
are apt to make conscience of every thing. I saw a case 
of the morbid activity of it, in connexion with large 
cautionsness. The individual thought he had committed 
an unpardonable sin, and that, as a just punishment, he 
should be eternally miserable. A person may determine 
whether the principle be a strong one in himself, by the 
manner in which he can truly answer the following 
questions : Do I habitually inquire, am I right in relation 
to my actions? And do I readily discriminate between 
what is right and what is wrong ? Do I discover and 
notice an act of injustice more readily than an in- 
sult? 

The master spirit of Bonaparte was darkened, when 
the question of right and wrong was to be examined, and 
he could never understand the motives of a man, who 
had any scruples of conscience. 

A judge, who is deficient in this principle, may under- 
stand the force of precedent, and of the policy of law, 
but will never readily discover the justice of a case. 
A lawyer, who is deficient in conscientiousness, may be 
shrewd, cunning, persevering, and popular, and it will 



HOPE. 83 

be a matter of indifference to him whether he is on the 

right or wrong side. But he will be an unsafe counsel- 
lor, and can seldom anticipate the decisions of a just 
judge. 

XVII. — Hope. 

Definition. — Hope is that sentiment which excites 
the intellectual faculties to contemplate those things, 
which may be expected to transpire agreeable to our 
desires. All the feelings have strong desires, but hope 
is a sentiment added to them, and which leads us to 
expect the gratification of our desires by the contempla- 
tion of those chances, which may happen in our favor. 
This feeling always has the threefold influence of excit- 
ing the intellect, of hading it to conteinplate objects and 
chances which will be favorable to our wishes, and of 
warping the judgments by inducing us to contemplate 
the favorable results only. It never leads the mind to 
the past, except for an argument in favor of the future. 
It may lead us only to the immediate future, or it may 
contemplate our destiny throughout eternity. As it re- 
gards the future, it is the direct antagonist of cautious- 
ness. As hope is the attendant of the desires of the 
other feelings, it will act most strongly with those which 
are strongest. A man, with predominating acquisitive- 
ness, will find his hopes principally active in relation to 
expected pecuniary success. A man with strong faith 
and reverence will hope principally in relation to his 
future destiny. Hope borders on marvellousness, and is 
kindred in character. Marvellousness leads us to believe 
that, of which hope only gives us strong expectations. 
When hope and cautiousness are both strong, a person 



84 PHRENOLOGY. 

will be variable, sometimes enjoying the most splendid 
dreams of prosperity, at other times desponding, and de- 
jected, and ready to sink in despair. The tone of hope 
is most happy and delightful, and its activity is increased 
by a nervo-sanguine temperament. It is common to 
speak of sanguine expectations. 

The innateness of this sentiment is generally admitted. 
It seems to be appropriate to a rational being, whose 
intellect can penetrate the future. It does not belong 
to brutes. It has much to do with religious feeling, and 
is situated outward of reverence and between conscien- 
tiousness and marvellousness. According to Dr. Spurz- 
heim, it also borders on acquisitiveness. My observations 
incline me to believe that it does not extend to acquisi- 
tiveness, but that ideality intervenes. In the location of 
this organ, my observations agree more nearly with those 
of Mr. Combe, than of Dr. Spurzheim. When hope is 
not too strong, it serves to excite the mind to those rea- 
sonable expectations of the future, which will be verified 
by the reality, and also to check too active cautiousness, 
which might otherwise produce despair, melancholy, and 
gloom. 

When hope is small and firmness large, a person may 
mistake the one feeling for the other. I have multiplied 
observations upon this organ to a great extent. Among 
those who have it large, I have noticed bold speculators 
and dealers in lottery tickets. Those, who deal in foreign 
commerce, and who engage in splendid public works, 
usually have the organ large. In adversity, we need a 
great deal of it. In prosperity, we should constantly 
watch its activity. I have usually found small hope and 
small self-esteem in the same head, and those often com- 



MARVELLOUSNESS. 85 

bined with large cautiousness and reverence ; when this 
is the case, the character is sadly out of balance. I 
know a gentleman who has been in great despair, whose 
organization is this. With large ideality, it would pro- 
duce the poetic feeling. 

The sentiment is beautifully described by Goldsmith. 

" Hope, like a glimmering taper's light, 
Adorns and cheers the way ; 
And still, as darker grows the night, 
Emits a brighter ray." 

The organ was large in the head of Sir Walter Scott. 

XVIII. — Marvellousness. 

Some time before the writer had ever heard of the 
doctrines of Phrenology, he had made the remark that 
¥ Many are so prone to believe the marvellous, and do 
believe such strange things upon so slight evidence, that 
their belief is rather to be considered as a desire, or 
emotion of the mind, than as a conclusion of the under- 
standing. Hence a person under the influence of this 
passion may be plied with any marvellous tale upon the 
slightest evidence, and he will believe it; and he may 
also be led to the belief of any doctrine. The Rev. 
John Wesley, though a very great man, was also a person 
of unbounded credulity. Curiosity is also undoubtedly a 
passion." I have made the above extracts from my pri- 
vate writings, not as proof of the existence of an organ, 
but merely to show that, unassisted by phrenology, I had 
made the discovery of the feeling, and had cited as an 
instance of it an individual, in whom the organ was ex- 
tremely large. 

8 



86 PHRENOLOGY. 

I have since traced the analysis of this sentiment with 
some care, and have come to the conclusion that, in its 
simplest form and habitual activity, it is the feeling which 
enables us to believe whatever is presented to the mind 
for belief. We could not believe our own senses, if we 
were destitute of this sentiment. When duly active, the 
organ assists us to believe, on reasonable evidence; 
when too active, it leads to belief on slight proof; when 
not sufficiently active, it requires undue amount of proof. 
As it is a sentiment, its higher stages of activity are 
accompanied by certain lively emotions; when it is sud- 
denly excited, it is surprise. Wonder, astonishment, and 
consternation are names given to its higher emotions. 
The emotion of terror seems to be a compound of cau- 
tiousness and of marvellousness. It is more peculiarly 
the character of this, than of any other sentiment, to 
excite the perceptive organs to the formation of false and 
deceptive images, when any thing comes suddenly upon 
us, or when it is feared as dangerous. When travelling 
in dangerous places, as in woods, where we may be likely 
to meet with wild beasts, marvellousness acting with 
cautiousness is very apt to turn an inanimate object into 
the creature so much dreaded. This feeling is excited 
much by cautiousness, hope, and other feelings, when 
active ; so that what we strongly fear, or ardently expect 
and desire, we are more ready to believe. 

The difference in individuals in relation to this senti- 
ment is quite remarkable. Some will scarcely believe 
the evidence of their senses ; others again will believe 
things the most absurd, and on the slightest evidence ; 
and are delighted to invent improbable stories, or to hear 
and read them. Sir Walter Scott says, in his tales of 



MARVELLOUSNESS. 87 

witchcraft and demonology, that the belief in them dies 
away by the age of forty, and that every one before that 
time must take his share. The organ was very large in 
Sir Walter Scott, as may be seen on the busts of him 
sold in the shops. We are all familiar with his powers 
of invention. 

Notwithstanding the danger of being misled by this 
feeling when too active, it has always characterized great 
spirits. We need its warming and life-giving influence, 
to excite us to great and noble deeds. When active, it has 
a peculiarly vivifying influence upon all the feelings, and 
imparts wonderful energy to the system. It temporarily 
increases the pulsation, and invigorates the whole system, 
especially when connected with any great enterprise. 
Let an army believe they shall be conquerors, and they 
will become irresistible ; let them become disheartened, 
and believe they shall be defeated, and defeat will be 
likely to follow. 

The organ is large in children, in naturalists, and in 
those who believe in tales of wonder and supernatural 
events. 

Phrenologists have noticed this sentiment as one active 
only when excited by something unexpected, strange, or 
wonderful ; and the names given to it indicate these 
higher manifestations. It will be seen that I have re- 
garded it rather as a constantly active, every-day, neces- 
sary feeling, called into action by every new acquisition 
in knowledge and act of belief. 

A constant course of reading fiction, research in 
science, or of ardent faith in religion, are calculated to 
increase the size of the organ. Hence its higher activity 
seems to attend upon all that is great, good, or romantic. 



88 PHRENOLOGY. 

Some recent facts seem to give reason for the conjec- 
ture, that, with the organ of this feeling and the percep- 
tive organs, there is a more intimate connexion than with 
any other, and here is ordinarily more heat and a stronger 
nervous influence than at any other point. Baldness 
usually commences in this region. In the case of 
Jane C. Rider, known as the Springfield somnambulist, 
(the facts of which case are beyond question authen- 
tic,) a small spot, on the left side of the head, near the 
region assigned to this organ, has, since her earliest 
recollection, been tender, or painful on pressure, and the 
sensibility is much increased when she suffers from head- 
ache. And during her paroxysms the pain in her head 
was sometimes obtuse and general, but more often acute 
and confined to a small spot on the left side of the head 
near the coronal suture. How far the morbid excitement, 
accompanying the inflammation in this region, influ- 
enced the eyes and the perceptive organs, giving to them 
that peculiar power by which she could see through many 
bandages, when her eyes were closed, so as to read ; and 
how far it deceived her as to the place she was in, and 
the people that surrounded her, it is impossible to say. 
I have no doubt but those spectral illusions, of which we 
have so many recorded cases, are uniformly characterized 
by the morbid activity of the organ of marvellousness, 
and that the organ, when large and spontaneously active, 
excites the perceptive organs to conjure up those objects 
and scenes which gratify it. It is also spontaneously 
active in connexion with cautiousness, and the other 
feelings in dreams, by which the perceptive organs call 
up objects of terror. 



IDEALITY. 89 



XIX. — Ideality. 



Innatcncss. — In the conceptions, conversations, writ- 
ings, and designs of some, we may notice a constant 
manifestation of a sense of the beautiful, the exquisite, 
the beau ideal, rendering their descriptions, their reason- 
ings, their enjoyments, and their sufferings far more acute 
and intense than that of others. Such people are always 
in a world of greater beauty or deformity, than those who 
have but little of this feeling. Every thing which passes 
their minds goes through a refining process. Such people 
live in a state of most delightful illusion, whenever this 
ruling feeling can find objects to gratify it. But no 
pleasure comes gratis. When deformity is present, and 
when trouble comes, their suffering is the most intense. 

Phrenologists have noticed the manifestation of this 
trait of character, and have found it uniformly connected 
with a peculiarity of organization, which has enabled 
them to discover its cerebral organ. It is located below 
and beside that of marvellousness, and when large gives 
the head an appearance as if a part had been added to 
each side. 

Distinguished poets and artists uniformly have the 
organ large. It is large in the head of many who are 
not poets. In such cases you will see it manifested in 
their actions or prose writings. It was very large in 
Shakspeare, Milton, Scott, Byron, &,c. It was very large 
in Edmund Burke. It is uniformly small in the degraded 
and vicious. 

It seems to have a fine moral influence by adding to 
the force of those sentiments, which contribute to mo- 
rality. Those who have large conscientiousness and 
8* 



90 PHRENOLOGY. 

ideality will see a moral beauty in truth and justice, and 
deformity in error and injustice. The style of one, who 
has active ideality with a mind well balanced in other 
points, will be rich, pure, tasteful, elevated, and full of 
poetic feeling. He will also see a beauty to which he 
will never attain, but after which he will constantly 
struggle ; hence with active comparison and ideality a 
person will rather re-compose than copy. 

We may see the goodness of our Creator, not only in 
constituting us capable of such exquisite delights and 
desires of perfection, but in adapting the material uni- 
verse to its gratification ; and the best return we can make 
for the bestowment of these gifts is, so to improve our 
faculties as to enjoy them in the greatest perfection of 
which we are capable. Men, who have the organs of 
ideality, marvellousness, imitation, and benevolence large, 
are likely to continue to improve until late in life, but 
are not apt to be so devotedly engaged in and delighted 
with business. 

When small, the conceptions and productions of the 
mind will be plain, and characterized by homeliness and 
naked, unadorned simplicity. But when large, it gives a 
habit of feeling and thinking, suited to an ideal world, 
rather than a suitable abode for man. Addison, when 
speaking of the pleasures arising from objects of sight, 
makes three divisions, — great, uncommon, and beautiful 
In his remarks on the beautiful, his notions are strikingly 
phrenological, when applied to those who, like himself, have 
a large organ of ideality and a quick sense of the beautiful. 
" There is nothing that makes its way more directly to 
the soul than beauty, which immediately diffuses a secret 
satisfaction and complacency through the imagination, 



MIRTHFULNESS. 91 

and gives a finishing to any thing that is great or uncom- 
mon. The very first discovery of it strikes the mind 
with an inward joy, and spreads a cheerfulness and de- 
light through all its faculties. There is not, perhaps, any 
real beauty or deformity more in one piece of matter 
than another; because we might have been made so 
that whatsoever now appears loathsome to us, might have 
shown itself agreeable ; but we find by experience that 
there are several modifications of matter, which the mind, 
without any previous consideration, pronounces at the 
first sight beautiful or deformed." 

XX. — Mirth fulness. 

Analysis. — Some people make comparisons, which, 
from playfulness of mind and unexpectedness, produce 
mirth or laughter. Sometimes a slight, strange, and 
ludicrous cause is given for a known effect. Some amuse 
us by their descriptions and narrations. Sometimes par- 
ticular feelings are sportively manifested, as secretiveness, 
reverence, imitation, &c. We may notice that different 
individuals have this power in very different degrees ; 
and those who possess it in a high degree are termed 
wits. Phrenologists have noticed that those, who have 
this character, commonly have an unusual fulness at the 
corners of the forehead, and have given to the organ 
here located the name of mirthfulness. It is purely an 
enjoying organ, given us as an antagonist to those organs 
which excite us to great seriousness. As reverence mag- 
nifies and heightens the conceptions of greatness and 
power, so mirthfulness gives us a quick sense of the 
little, unimportant, and laughable, inclining us to take 
the world as a joke. It is a feeling, and only excites the 



92 PHRENOLOGY. 

other faculties into sportive action. Compared with 
sober exercises of the mind, it excites the mind to play- 
ful, sportive, mock efforts, the object of which is amuse- 
ment, and not serious business. 

It must not be confounded with the simple gratification 
of other feelings, because this sometimes produces laugh- 
ter. The boy laughs when you give him a piece of cake 
or money. As the result of all this we may conclude, that 
mirthfulness is that feeling which excites any or all the 
intellectual or affective faculties into playful action, where 
the object is amusement or sport. Its effect is to change 
the tone of all the faculties, and send out from the brain 
through the whole system the most agreeable nervous 
influences. It acts with peculiar force in people of a 
lively, sanguine, and nervous temperament, and who have 
large perceptive organs, secretiveness, and imitation. 
Comic actors usually have this combination strong. It 
requires a less degree of activity and power in the organ 
to perceive wit, than to produce it. Hence to be a wit 
requires a certain combination of large organs, with 
mirthfulness to take the lead. 

Those, who have this combination, are in danger of in- 
dulging their feelings at the expense of their more sober 
exercises of mind, and to consider every thing as matter 
of joke, and unworthy the bestowment of a serious exer- 
tion of thought. Hence wit and judgment are observed 
to be opposite, and seldom united in the same person ; 
and hence, too, the business concerns of the community 
are seldom entrusted to the professed wit. As the 
thoughts are relaxed from any serious aim, so are the 
muscles of the face. 



IMITATION. 



XXI. — Imitation. 



93 



Innatencss. — No disposition or tendency of mind is 
more generally admitted and understood, than that of 
imitation. The imitation of dress, of manners, of speech, 
of style, of painting, and of writing, is acknowledged by 
all ; and the character of young persons is formed through 
its potent agency. 

It is possessed in different degrees by different persons, 
is more active in children, than in adults, is manifested 
by some brute animals, as the monkey and parrot, and is 
denied to others. Even idiots sometimes possess a power 
of imitation beyond any other power. These facts are 
regarded as proofs of the innateness of the primitive 
instinct. 

Organ, and where located. — A course of observations 
upon individuals who possess the power in large measure, 
as contrasted with those who are remarkable for a defi- 
ciency of this faculty, has resulted in establishing the 
location of the organ on each side of benevolence. The 
portraits of Shakspeare, and the casts of the head of 
Sir Walter Scott, show the organ large. 

The writer has noticed many individuals who had the 
organ large. Among this number is recollected J. C. M., 
who successfully imitates many distinguished orators,— 
and a young man of Bangor, Maine, who manifests it in 
every movement, and who has succeeded well on a pri- 
vate stage. 

How manifested, &,c. — The less obvious activity of 
this feeling is shown, in what we term mannerism and 
tone in speaking. It is a rare thing to find a public 
speaker, who has not adopted the model of other public 



94 



PHRENOLOGY. 



speakers, whom he frequently hears, or whom he greatly 
admires. The feeling is exceedingly active during the 
delivery, and hence it is so rare to see a perfectly simple, 
natural, and characteristic speaker. I have never seen 
the power manifested to a degree at all remarkable, unless 
the person had an active temperament, large, and active 
perceptive organs, and great activity of mind. 

Discovery. — Dr. Gall observed a head, in which this 
organ was elevated in the form of a segment of a circle, 
on each side of benevolence. He also noticed it equally 
large in another individual. Observations have since 
been multiplied to an extent, which warrant phrenologists 
in considering it as established. 

I examined the head of a gentleman in Bangor, and 
remarked that the organ of imitation was large. He did 
not recognise the power in himself readily, but on con- 
versing with him afterwards, he informed me that he had 
frequently, without much effort, been able to imitate the 
signature of a certain gentleman so perfectly, that it could 
not be distinguished by the gentleman himself. 

ORDER II. — Intellectual Faculties. 

Genus I. — External Senses. 

In treating of the external senses, I shall speak of 
their structure as well as functions, that the last may be 
better understood. It is by the aid of the functions 
performed by the external senses, (seeing, hearing, 
touching, tasting, and smelling,) that the internal facul- 
ties of intellect, when active, obtain their knowledge of 
the external world. Without them, man would only have 
an internal existence. 



TOUCH. 95 



Feeling or Touch. 



This sense is spread over the whole external surface 
of the body, and over the intestinal canal. To under- 
stand the structure and functions of this sense the more 
perfectly, it may be well to speak of the skin. The skin 
is composed of three layers of membrane, viz. the cuticle, 
the mucous coat, and the thick true skin. The cuticle 
is the outermost layer, and is that which is raised in 
blisters. This is a thin membrane, without blood-vessels 
or nerves, and neither bleeds nor feels pain. It seems 
to serve as a defence against friction, and checks evapo- 
ration from the true skin, and also checks absorption. 
Directly under this is the mucous coat or net-work, which 
contains the coloring matter of the skin, on which com- 
plexion depends. This too has no blood-vessels or nerves. 
The third, or inmost layer, is the true skin, and is by far 
the most important, both in structure and functions. It 
is a firm resistant tissue, and is the seat of sensation and 
touch. It is said by Dr. A. Combe, (in whose invaluable 
little work on physiology many of these remarks are to be 
found,) that the true skin is so abundantly supplied with 
blood and nervous power, that for practical purposes it 
may almost be regarded as composed of vessels and nerves 
alone. The redness of the skin in blushing is itself a 
proof of great vascularity, especially in that which covers 
the face. However, in this part there is a peculiar ner- 
vous texture entwined round the vessels, which gives the 
cheeks a susceptibility not possessed by other parts. But 
a stronger proof of this is, that we cannot direct the 
point of the finest needle into any spot, without punctur- 
ing a vessel, or transfixing a nerve and causing pain. 



98 PHRENOLOGY. 

The nerves, so profusely spread throughout the whole 
surface, are the instruments through which we receive 
the sensation of pleasure or pain, of heat and cold, dry- 
ness and moisture, and of hardness; and is also one 
medium through which we perceive form and size, rough- 
ness and smoothness, of external objects. The necessity 
of the sense of touch may be apparent from the consid- 
eration, that we might otherwise receive essential injury 
from some unobserved part, without knowing it. 

On account of its being spread all over the surface of 
our bodies, it has been called the elementary sense, and 
all the others are only modifications of it, accommodated 
to make us acquainted with certain qualities of bodies. 
It also corrects the errors of all the other senses. 

Taste. 

This sense is near akin to that of touch. It is confined 
to a particular part of the system, viz. the upper surface 
of the tongue. It is said, however, that the lips, gums, 
the lining of the arch of the palate, and the palate itself, 
may be, in some degree, affected by the impression of 
certain flavors. The upper surface of the tongue differs 
from other parts in this respect. The several layers of 
this skin are softer, thinner, and filled with a greater 
quantity of nerves and vessels. They are also habitually 
moistened by the saliva, and by the mucus secreted by 
the mucous glands, and contained in their substance. It 
is noticeable, that small prominences are formed by the 
extremities of nerves surrounding a plexus of small blood- 
vessels. The function of this sense is to produce sensa- 
tions of taste alone. But it does not form ideas of these 
qualities. This belongs to the function of certain cere- 
bral organs. 



SMELL. 97 



Smell. 



This is the sense which conveys to the internal organs 
a sense of the odorous particles of bodies, detached by 
heat, and dissolved in the atmosphere. We are thus 
made acquainted with the presence of the bodies from 
which odors emanate. And certain odors are agreeable, 
and others are disagreeable, just as they affect pleasant- 
ly or otherwise the organs of the brain which take cog- 
nizance of them. 

The sense of smell is situated within the nostrils ; and 
its organic apparatus is that of a thick mucous membrane 
always moist. Tears not wanted for the eye, assist in 
moistening this membrane. In the tissue of this mem- 
brane are interspersed the olfactory nerves. Other 
nerves are also distributed here as in other parts of the 
system susceptible to the touch. The smell is the more 
delicate, as the organic apparatus is the more capacious. 
The membrane, which serves as the seat of the olfactory 
nerve, secretes the mucus of the nose. In those animals, 
which are remarkable for their power of smell, the nos- 
trils and other cavities lined with the pituitary mem- 
brane, are prodigiously large, and the olfactory nerve is 
proportionably large. The dog and swine are remarka- 
ble instances. The power of receiving the impression of 
smell, comes from the nerves of the first pair, as classed 
by Sir Charles Bell. In man, this sense is not of great 
power. 

Hearing. 

This is a very complicated organ. It has four divis- 
ions, the outer, middle, and the inner parts, and the 
auditory nerve. Of the outer part it is unnecessary to 
9 



98 PHRENOLOGY. 

give a description. I would only observe, that its con- 
struction is admirably adapted to collect sound. The 
middle part embraces the tympanum and its membrane, 
the small bones of the ear, or ossicles, and the Eustachian 
tube. The tympanum is a cavity situated at the bottom 
of the external passage, between the external and internal 
ear, and is covered with a thin, delicate skin. It is of a 
cylindrical form, with several openings. Some of these 
openings communicate with the internal ear. There is 
one which communicates with the Eustachian tube. It 
contains four little bones, called the hammer, anvil, round 
bone, and stirrup. 

The Eustachian tube leads from the back part of the 
throat to the cavity of the tympanum, and is lined by a 
mucous membrane. 

The internal ear is composed of three parts, the coch- 
lea, the vestibule, and the semi-circular canals. The 
cochlea, (so called from its resemblance to the shell of a 
snail,) is situated near the entrance of the Eustachian 
tube, and communicates with the cavity of the tympanum 
and vestibule. The vestibule is in the central portion of 
the internal ear, and communicates with all the other 
parts. The three semi-circular canals are situated be- 
hind the cochlea and vestibule, and terminate in the 
latter. 

The anditory nerve is a branch of the seventh pair, 
and passes into the internal auditory tube, and is subdi- 
vided into numerous branches, which pass through small 
openings, and terminate in the form of a pulp in the 
various parts of the internal ear. 

This is a brief description of that curiously constructed 
apparatus, by which we become acquainted with sounds. 



HEARING. 



99 



The atmosphere is the more appropriate vehicle for the 
communication of sound, though liquids and solid bodies; 
answer the same purpose. 

Figure IV. — The Ear. 




A Map or the Ear. 1 The external auditory tube. 2 The membrane of the 
tympanum. 3 The Eustachian tube. 4 The hammer. 5 The anvil. 6 The 
round bone. 7 The stirrup. 8 The oval opening. 9 The semicircular canals. 
10 The vestibule. 11 The cochlea. 



The essential part of the organ of hearing is the soft 
pulp of the auditory nerve, floating in the midst of a 
gelatinous fluid contained in the cavities of the internal 
ear. 

The function of this organ is to produce an impression 
of sound. But the harmony and melody of sounds is 
perceived by internal cerebral organs. It is sufficiently 
apparent that the power of distinguishing melody is not 
determined by the perfection of the organ of hearing 



100 PHRENOLOGY. 

alone ; for many hear very acutely, and are insensible to 
music. Among birds, the female hears as well as the 
male, but cannot sing. Some men sing very well, who 
hear very indifferently. But the same persons would 
make better music were their power of hearing perfect. 
Hence the power of distinguishing musical sounds de- 
pends on the organ of hearing and the cerebral organ 
conjointly. 

Sense of Sight. 

The eyes, the organs of this sense, are placed in two 
cavities of the scull, known by the name of orbits. The 
eye-brows, eye-lids, and the lachrymal apparatus are mere 
appendages of the organ. 

The eye is composed of three humors, which are cov- 
ered by appropriate membranes. These humors are 
called the vitreous, (or glassy,) the crystalline, and the 
aqueous. The first of these constitutes the principal 
portion of the globe. On its anterior surface is a slight 
depression, in which is situated the crystalline lens. In 
front of this is the aqueous humor. In this humor is the 
iris, which expands or contracts, the opening in the cen- 
tre of which constitutes the pupil. It is the color of the 
iris that determines the color of the eye. All the light 
admitted to the eye passes through the pupil. The eye 
is protected by three coverings. The outer is what is 
termed the sclerotic. This extends over the whole of 
the eye except the fore part, which is covered with the 
cornea. The sclerotic coat is commonly called the 
white of the eye. These taken together, form a most 
perfect optical instrument, back of which is placed the 
retina on which the rays strike, after passing through 
those changes performed by this instrument. 



SIGHT. 101 

It is the retina, (which is an expansion of the optic 
nerve,) that is affected and put in motion by the rays of 
light. This motion is transmitted to the cerebral organ 
by the second pair of nerves, called the optic nerves. 
These nerves have no function but that of sight. The 
nerves of sensibility and motion, by which the eye moves 
and is susceptible of pain, spring from other sources. 
Tears are secreted by the lachrymal gland, situated within 
the orbit of the eye at its outer angle, by which the eye 
is kept moist ; and the excess is thence taken up by 
absorbent vessels in each eye-lid, and thence conveyed 
into the nose. 

Figure V. — The Eye. 
1 




'—4 



1 The lachrymal gland. 2 Its several ducts, to convey the teari to the eye. 
3, 3 The puncta. 4, 5 The nasal duct 

Its function. — It is the function of the eye to receive, 
modify, and transmit the impressions of light. Internal 
faculties form conceptions of the figure, color, distance, 
and other attributes of objects. It is obvious that the 
degree of perfection, with which the eye will perform its 
9* 



102 PHRENOLOGY. 

functions, will depend on its perfect organization and 
healthy condition. If the cornea or crystalline lens, or 
the vitreous humor, or all of them be too convex, the rays 
of light are too soon brought to a focus, and the sight is 
imperfect. Long sightedness is a defect arising from 
opposite causes. But if the eyes be perfect, and the 
brain be defective in those faculties which take notice of 
the size, form, or color of objects, we shall be unable to 
distinguish these qualities. Hence our conceptions of 
objects of sight, and their qualities, will depend upon the 
perfection of the internal, and the external organs jointly. 
A careless habit of thinking would lead us to suppose, 
that the power of distinguishing colors would depend on 
sight alone ; but this is no more the case, than it is that 
the power of distinguishing sounds depends upon the ear 
alone. 

Genus II. 

INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES WHICH PERCEIVE THE EXIST- 
ENCE OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS AND THEIR PHYSICAL 
QUALITIES. 

We now pass from the external senses, — those curi- 
ously organized instruments, to which we are indebted for 
all we know of the external world, — to the internal 
cerebral organs, which alone are able to form ideas of 
existences, — their physical qualities and relations. 

XXII. — Individuality. 

Suppose I saw a man riding over a bridge very briskly. 
The man, horse, bridge, &c, were painted on the retina 
of the eye, and the optic nerve carried the impression to 
the brain, and there a class of faculties, each acting by 



INDIVIDUALITY. 103 

means of an appropriate organ, contributed to form the 
whole scene in my mind. 

In the first place, there were several objects presented 
to the mind, as the bridge, horse, rider, &,c. These 
objects were noticed by the faculty of individuality, 
whose function it is to notice existences and things, with- 
out regard to any of their qualities or relations. It is 
indeed the function of this faculty to notice every thing 
which can be contemplated, though it have only an ex- 
istence in the mind, as justice, virtue, prudence, foe. 
And the stronger the faculty, the more definite and pre- 
cise will be the conception. Some have the power so 
strong, in connexion with other faculties, that they, by 
aid of marvellousness, personify abstractions, and repre- 
sent them as active, and as speaking and doing. Poetry 
is full of such figurative expressions. Thus Gray's cele- 
brated hymn to adversity. 

" Wisdom in sable garb arrayed, 
Immersed in rapturous thought profound, 
And Melancholy, silent maid, 
With leaden eye, that loves the ground, 
Still on thy solemn steps attend ; 
Warm Charity, the general friend, 
With Justice, to herself severe ; 
And Pity, dropping soft the sadly pleasing tear." 

The organ, and its location. — Those persons who are 
remarkable for their observation of things, and have an 
aptitude for acquiring a knowledge of details and of 
individuals, have usually great breadth between the eye- 
brows, or a prominence immediately above the top of the 
nose. When large, the forehead seems to point down 
between the eye-brows. It was large in Dr. Spurzheim, 



104 PHRENOLOGY. 

Canova the sculptor, and is in Chief Justice Shaw, of 
Massachusetts. It was large in the late Judge Thatcher, 
of Massachusetts, also in Lord Mansfield, and George 
III. of England. 

It was small in Voltaire. 

St. Paul, in his writings, frequently manifests great 
activity in this faculty. " I am persuaded/' says he, 
" that neither death nor life ; nor angels, nor principali- 
ties, nor powers ; nor things present, nor things to come ; 
nor height nor depth ; nor any other creature, shall be 
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in 
Christ Jesus our Lord." 

There is often a frontal sinus, the largest portion of 
which is directly at the location of this organ. In such 
case, the two tables of the scull are not precisely parallel. 
But a careful observer will be able to judge of the extent 
of this. And besides, I have always found it safe to 
consider the organ large, when the scull is prominent, or 
presents a large surface at this point. A fulness in this 
region, indicates the predominance of the perceptive 
organs in general. 

Figure VI. — The Frontal Sinus. 




The Frontal Sinus is the dark hole above the nose. 

I have made many observations upon this organ and 
its manifestation, and have never failed to find proofs of 






PERCEPVIVE ORGINS. 105 

its existence. It was discovered and analyzed by Dr. 
Spurzheim. 

The organ, when large, furnishes great facility in 
acquiring natural science, and detached facts. It is a 
very useful organ, and assists to give to man a practical 
turn of mind. 

General Vicic of the Perceptive Organs. 

To return to the man, riding briskly over the 
bridge. — When the eye first glanced that way, I only 
noticed something, without observing whether it was 
a man, or a horse, and without noticing the form, or size, 
or color; or the place on tie bridge, — or how the man 
sat on the horse, or whether there were not two men, and 
two horses, — whether the movement was brisk or slow, or 
the sound they made rumbling across the bridge. 

But all these circumstances have since been noticed. 

I first more particularly noticed the form of the horse 
and man. This drew into activity the organ of configu* 
ration. Having fixed the form, his size was noticed by 
the organ of that name. He was leaning forward, and 
was not well balanced on the horse, — this was noticed 
by my organ of weight and resistance. The man is dis* 
covered to be a colored man, upon a bay horse, — this 
was ascertained by the organ of color. His dress was 
badly arranged, and his horse had but one eye. To per- 
ceive these circumstances required the faculties of notic- 
ing orderly arrangement, and the number of parts ; the 
organs of which are order and number. There was a 
class of objects in motion ; it became an event, and was 
noticed by eventuality. But whether this movement were 
slow or fast, would never have been noticed, bqt for the 



106 PHREOOLOGY. 

faculty, whose organ is called time. And all this hap- 
pened at a certain place, — the bridge, — which is no- 
ticed by the organ of locality. Had there been any 
harmony in the sound made in crossing the bridge, it 
would have been noticed by the organ of tune. It will 
be seen by this view of our mental operations, that indi- 
viduality is the organ, of which all the others are merely 
the adjuncts, enabling us to notice the qualities and rela- 
tions of things. A moment's reflection will convince us 
that we need all the intellectual powers here manifested. 
And when we learn the fact, that each of these powers is 
possessed in very different degree by different individuals, 
in whom the external senses are equally good, — when we 
make observations, and find that some people have the 
power of noticing forms, with great accuracy, while they 
cannot judge of size or color, — that others have a very 
quick perception of varieties and tints in color, while they 
cannot distinguish either form, size, or air, — that others 
again can remember individual things, but cannot tell 
where they saw them, — and others can always point you 
to the very place, and will never be lost, — I say, when 
all these varieties are observable, and that in each the 
peculiar form of the forehead is such as to enable a care- 
ful observer to determine, with tolerable correctness, the 
relative degree in which these powers are possessed by 
different individuals, we must think there is some reason, 
at least, to believe in the existence of the distinct facul- 
ties, with their appropriate organs. 

XXIII. — Form. 

The organ of this faculty is situated at the very base 
of the brain, below individuality, and between the orbits 



size. 107 

of the eyes. If the orbits be near to each other, this 
organ will be small, but if the orbits be some distance 
from each other, there is a large space for the organ. 
Hence in judging of this organ, it is necessary to observe 
how the sockets of the eyes are situated. Great breadth 
of head at this point will give a large space for the eyes, 
and for this organ, so that in general, his conformation 
indicates the organ large. 

The function of this organ seems confined to observa- 
tion of forms. It is serviceable to any one who would 
acquire great skill in the arts of design, or as a practical 
phrenologist. 

It is a very strong faculty in some of the lower animals. 
The honey bee distinguishes bees of its own hive, from 
those of another. It may be well to remark, that where 
individuality is large, form is usually large slso, as it lies 
directly under it. The organ is large in Mr. Brown, a 
gentleman who cuts full-length profile likenesses, by 
observation, with great accuracy. 

XXIV. — Size. 

From the general view we took of the perceptive or- 
gans, it will be seen that a faculty is required which shall 
take cognizance, and judge of the size or magnitude of 
objects. Two objects may be equal in size, but different 
in form. One board may be six inches square, and 
another nine inches long, and four w r ide. In this case, 
the boards would be of the same size, but of a different 
form. We should readily see the difference in form, but 
could not by the same organ discover the equality in size. 
Differences in size are more readily discovered, where 
the form is the same. In size we are not obliged to 



108 PHRENOLOGY. 

attend to more than one line at a time. Hence with this 
organ we may notice length or distance merely. This 
organ, however, is not active alone in this judgment, 
unless the objects, on which it is exercised, are in a posi- 
tion in which the principles of perspective do not apply. 
The organ was discovered by Dr. Spurzheim. Still 
European phrenologists speak of it as only probable. I 
have noticed a few cases of a large organ of size, con- 
nected with great power in judging of size. Mr. P. 
Hewins, a gifted young artist of Hartford, Connecticut, 
has the organ very large, and he has the power of judg- 
ing of the size of faces and figures, with the most perfect 
accuracy. Dr. Spurzheim saw a young man in Paris, 
who had the organ very large, and who could draw a 
circle, without the aid of an instrument, and point out 
the centre with mathematical accuracy. 

The organ is small, and located against the internal 
corner of the socket of the eyes, on the side of individu- 
ality and form. The convolutions of form and size are 
closely blended, and we have seen it is difficult to distin- 
guish the functions of the organs. The power of judg- 
ing accurately of size, is necessary to the mechanician, 
the portrait painter, and the practical phrenologist, or 
indeed to any one, whose judgment of dimensions is re- 
quired to be correct. 

XXV. — Weight and Resistance. 

The law of gravitation is well understood. By it every 
thing on the surface of the earth is attracted to the earth. 
The different degrees, in which small objects are attracted 
to the earth, may be judged by their comparative pres- 
sure when held in the hand. Where a cone is com- 



WEIGHT AND RESISTANCE. 



109 



posed of any material of uniform specific gravity or 
weight, we can readily determine whether a line dropped 
from the centre of gravity in the cone, to the earth, will 
pass through the centre of any point within its base, or 
whether it leans in any direction, so as to carry the line 
to one side. In this judgment, we need to call in aid 
the organs of form and size, to take the dimensions of 
the cone ; but these alone would not inform us of the 
condition of its balance. The organ of form might enable 
us to notice the angle it made with the surrounding earth. 
But we could not tell the position of the earth on the 
surface, in reference to the centre of gravitation. The 
faculty, which takes cognizance of this, is distinct from 
any other, and is called weight and resistance. The 
organ may be excited into action either through the sense 
of sight or of touch, or by the changing positions of our 
bodies when in motion. 

Figure VII. 




110 PHRENOLOGY. 

We have (Fig. VII.) two obelisks. The centre of 
gravity in each is supposed to be at A. In the first, a 
plumb line dropped from A to the ground, falls outside 
of the base ; but in the other it falls within the base. 
We should not need the plumb, to inform us, that one 
would fall, and that the other would stand ; nor even 
that the one nearest erect, is not perfectly so. The organ 
of weight and resistance would soon make this discovery, 
and we might distinctly recollect their inclined position 
afterwards. And this power of recollection determines 
it to be something more than the work of the organ of 
vision. In the hnman body the centre of gravity is 
between the hips. The more erect we stand, the nearer 
a line dropped from tbe centre of gravity will fall to the 
centre between the feet. It is always necessary to sup- 
port this centre of gravity. The quicker our perceptions 
of deviations in this centre of gravity are, the greater 
feats of agility we may be able to perform. Circus-riders 
have these perceptions remarkably quick, and are thus 
enabled to throw their weight where it is deficient. 

It is this organ of weight and resistance, which takes 
cognizance of gravitation in general, and of the balance 
of our own bodies in particular. 

Were I to walk in the water, it would require muscu- 
lar strength to overcome the resistance produced by the 
pressure of the water. This pressure, or resistance 
against my limbs, is communicated to the mind, through 
the nerves of sensation ; and the effort to overcome it 
is made through the agency of the nerves of voluntary 
motion. But it is a particular organ, (viz. Weight and 
Resistance,) which gives a definite idea of the amount of 
this resistance, and the power of recollecting it after- 



WEIGHT AND ASSISTANCE. 11] 

wards. Wo thus sec the function of tlio organ in ques- 
tion is to take cognizance of weight or gravitation, and 
also of resistance, and it thence derives its name. 

The power exercised by this organ is necessary not 
only to man, but to the whole animated creation, else 
they would be victims to the laws of gravitation. In 
man it has a wide sphere of activity. " It is of use," 
says Dr. Spurzheim, " whenever weight or resistance are 
worked upon by the hands, or by means of tools, in carv- 
ing, turning, polishing, in lifting, in resisting an oppo- 
nent in boxing ; in calculating the resistance of a current, 
the tide, or pressure of the wind ; to direct a ship in 
certain directions ; in using the bow with dexterity ; in 
keeping the hands, arms, and body steady in shooting ; 
in touching the strings or cords of any musical instru- 
ment with accuracy : it is therefore necessary to musi- 
cal performers, be it on the harp, violin, violoncello, 
piano-forte, organ, &,c. ; to eminent engineers, as far as 
the knowledge of momentum, and of statics is con- 
cerned ; to able printers, particularly of copper and 
lithographic plates ; to clever workmen in mosaic," &,c. 

But for the organ in question, animal movements would 
be only staggering and tumbling. The intoxicated are 
disturbed in the exercise of this organ, and lose a steady 
gait, — see the ground rise before them, and fancy them- 
selves turned upside down, and grasp objects to save 
themselves from falling off of the surface. They some- 
times feel lifted up, — again they appear sinking down, 
— and again whirling round. It is thought that even 
sea-sickness may result from a disturbance of the organ 
of weight and resistance. I should rather suppose that 
eventuality, locality, and several other perceptive organs 
would be equally disturbed. 



112 ' PHRENOLOGY. 

I have noticed the organ large in several gentlemen, 
among whom are J. N., Esq., of Portland, and N. G., 
Esq., of Boston, and a Rev. Mr. F. The two former 
excel in fencing, and the latter informed me, that he 
noticed very accurately whether an object stood plumb. 
I noticed the organ small in a portrait painter, and among 
his pictures I saw a defect in the air or position of the 
figures. The bust of Sir Isaac Newton, sold in the 
shops, shows the organ large. 

The organ is situated in the superciliary ridge, directly 
outward of the organ of size. Owing to the large size 
of the corrugator muscle, at the internal corner of the 
eye-brow, it is not safe to judge of the size of the organ, 
without passing your thumb upward against it. 

Dr. Spurzheim locates the organ " externally of that of 
size, above the orbit towards the superciliary ridge." 
When small, you may press your thumb upwards in the 
arch at this point, and you will notice the scull less 
prominent at that point than elsewhere along the arch. 
When large, it will be quite full there, and will seem to 
interfere with the position of the eye. I think it does 
not appear in the superciliary ridge as much as the other 
organs along the arch. 

XXVI. — Color. 

The last physicafquality of objects, of which we obtain 
a knowledge through the agency of any of the external 
senses, is that of color ; and the only sense that aids us 
in this is that of sight. But this does not enable us to 
see without light. Light is the medium by which the 
sense of sight performs its functions. It is composed of 
colors, and there can be no light without colors ; that is, 



COLOR. 113 

without colors all will be black, which is the same thing 
as being of no color. 

Every object, therefore, becomes visible only by the 
colored rays which it reflects. Bodies are so constituted 
by the arrangement of their particles, as to absorb some 
rays, and reflect others. Yet they are not so perfectly 
uniform in their arrangement, as to reflect only pure rays 
of one color, and perfectly absorb all others. But those 
rays, which are reflected in the greatest abundance, deter- 
mine the color. 

When all the different colored rays fall equally on a 
body, the rays reflected will be of the kind, and in the 
degree that the body is fitted in its particles to reflect, 
and from these proportions the body will take its color. 
But the rays of light may pass through bodies, and fall 
on others in different proportions from what they would, 
were it not for the bodies interposed. Hence the color 
of an object will depend on two considerations ; 1st, the 
arrangement of its minute particles, and, 2d, the medium 
which the rays of light have passed through in reaching 
the object. An experiment made in a dark room with a 
prism will show this. Expose a rose to red rays, refracted 
through a prism, and it will appear more brilliant ; but 
expose the green leaves to the same red rays, and the 
leaves will not appear green, but of a dingy brown, with 
a reddish glow. It would not be green, because no green 
rays have fallen on it. It would not be bright red, as 
was the rose, because bodies fitted to absorb green rays, 
will also absorb most of the red rays. 

Now the power of discriminating these different rays, 
and thus of perceiving all the delicate shades of color, 
does not depend upon the acuteness of the organ of vision 
10* 



114 PHRENOLOGY. 

wholly, because many people with very perfect organs 
for noticing the form, size, and position of objects, cannot 
discriminate the color of one object from another. They 
are sensible to light in mass, but are deficient in discrimi- 
nating between the different colored rays. Another rea- 
son why this does not depend upon the eye merely, is 
that the impressions made on the mind, of different 
colors, can be remembered ; and artists can re-produce 
any color they wish, from recollection. Neither is this 
power wholly independent of the power of vision, for a 
blind man can have no idea of colors. It must therefore 
depend on the perfection of the eye, and of the cerebral 
organs combined. The next inquiry is, whether some 
organ already examined can have this function, or 
whether a distinct organ is appropriated to this faculty. 
Phrenologists claim the latter to be the case, and have 
discovered the organ to be situated in the middle of the 
arch of the eye-brow. They have many facts on this 
subject, derived from observation, both of the large and 
small size of the organ. When large, the eye-brow will 
be much arched, and generally, the outward part will be 
more elevated than the inner. In feeling for this organ 
you will not press upward from under the arch, as in 
weight and resistance, but will run your finger along the 
superciliary ridge. 

This organ is seldom so large as to appear more promi- 
nent than the neighbouring organs, and it is more usual 
to notice it a little depressed. The number of persons 
who are skilled in colors is comparatively small. The 
power of the organ is shown in discriminating the minute 
shades. The lower animals perceive light in general, 
and seem to be struck with strong colors. Were one 



COLOR. 115 

entirely destitute of the organ, perhaps he would not see 
at all. Hence, where persons have been blind for many 
years, the organ, from its total inaction, has been known 
to fall away, and the scull to be depressed. 

The organ of color may be defined to be, that whose 
function is to discriminate the different rays of light, as 
they are varied in the proportion in which they are re- 
flected by different bodies. Those who possess this 
power to a high degree, find in its exercise a source of 
exquisite pleasure. The pleasures derived from this, 
with the other perceptive organs, led Addison to make 
the following beautiful remarks. " There is," says he, 
" a second kind of beauty, that we find in the several 
products of art and nature, which does not work in the 
imagination with that warmth and violence, as the beauty 
that appears in our own proper species, but is apt, how- 
ever, to raise in us a secret delight, and a kind of fond- 
ness for the places or objects in which we discover it. 
This consists either in the gaiety or variety of colors, in 
the symmetry and proportion of parts, in the arrangement 
and disposition of bodies, or in a just mixture and con- 
currence of all together. Among these several kinds of 
beauty, the eye takes most delight in colors. We nowhere 
meet with a more glorious or pleasing show in nature, 
than what appears in the heavens, at the rising and 
setting of the sun, which is wholly made up of those 
different stains of light, that show themselves in clouds 
of a different situation." 



116 PHRENOLOGY. 



Genus III. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES WHICH PERCEIVE THE PHYSICAL 
RELATIONS OF OBJECTS TO EACH OTHER. 

XXVII. — Locality. 

In the four preceding articles we have attended to the 
faculties, which notice the external physical qualities of 
objects, viz. their form, magnitude, weight, and color. 
We come now to a consideration of certain relations 
existing among objects. The first of these is the relation 
of situation. The mind is not satisfied with noticing 
qualities merely of objects, without taking into view their 
relation to other objects by position. But this relation 
is at once seized upon, and objects become grouped and 
clustered in the mind, so that no one object can come 
up to the mind, or be spoken of, but it will instantly 
suggest the object with which it is related. Objects, 
when first presented to the mind, are less at our command 
than those already familiar. Hence the familiar object 
may be brought to view, and this will suggest the object 
connected with it by the relation of position. 

Now the largest and most familiar ideas we have, are 
those of the surface of the earth, in all its varieties of 
aspect. Our eyes are constantly open upon it. It is 
every where connected ; and places are noticed upon it 
by their form, size, color, &c, giving it all the variety 
imaginable. This being the great familiar idea, we asso- 
ciate the objects, which cover its surface, with the par- 
ticular places where we become familiar with seeing them. 
The organ, which notices this relation, is termed locality , 
because we associate things which are less familiar, with 



LOCALITY. 117 

places which are more so, and are enabled, afterwards, 
to think first of the place, and then of the object. 

It will be seen, from the above view of the subject, 
that the organ of locality is not confined to the observa- 
tion of the relation which objects bear to place merely, 
but it extends to a notice of objects as related to each 
other by position. And the relation of objects to a place, 
is but one of its positional relations. But it is so much 
stronger than the other positional relations, that the 
organ receives its appellation from this main branch of 
its manifestation. 

The organ in question lays the foundation for the 
study of geography. When the face of the earth is 
known, with its fixed objects, and marked features, in 
such a manner as to be understood, we may speak of the 
fixed objects, or the moving objects, on any part of its. 
surface, and may be much assisted in remembering 
them. 

When the organ is large and active, the person will be 
remarkable for remembering the relations of position. 
Hence, from its associating power, it is more nearly 
identified with memory, than with any other organ. The 
system of mnemonicks, so popular a few years since, was 
constructed in reference to this associating power. 

It is easy to anticipate the sphere of activity of this 
organ. The persons possessing it in large measure 
would have the relations of place very strongly fixed in 
their minds, and would readily remember where objects 
are. The organ would have a great spontaneous ac- 
tivity, and furnish exquisite delight in its exercise. 
Hence it would give fondness for scenery, and travelling, 
and a power of describing scenery. It gives a tendency 



118 PHRENOLOGY. 

to recollect things, as it were, grouped and clustered 
together. 

It would have a leading influence upon the organs 
in general, and give a direction to all our intellectual 
habits. Hence the organ is always found large in great 
travellers, astronomers, navigators, geographers, and 
painters of scenery. It was large in the heads of New- 
ton, Cook, Columbus, Mungo Park, Galileo, Kepler, and 
Sir Walter Scott. 

Perhaps no organ is so clearly established by observa- 
tion as this. When large, it stands out from the sur- 
rounding organs in a manner not to be mistaken ; and 
it is exposed to the observation constantly. If large, its 
manifestations are also very obvious ; when deficient, too, 
the defect it produces in the character is easily discov- 
ered. There are tests, however, arising from other 
circumstances. The organ is less in females than in 
males ; so is the power which it gives. It is possessed 
by some animals, and not by others. Dogs often possess 
remarkable power of finding places once visited. Wild 
geese, swallows, storks, martens, &,c, migrate at certain 
periods of the year, and return again to the same spot, 
after many months absence. 

XXVIII. — Order. 

In our remarks upon the organ of locality, it was ob- 
served, that its function is to recognise the relation of 
near position, and to associate things connected by po- 
sition. Objects are not only connected by this relation, 
but fall into a regular arrangement. To many people, 
the least confusion is a matter of annoyance ; and ob- 
servation has shown, that attachment to order and power 



ORDER. 119 

of arrangement arises from a distinct organ. It applies 
to things, as they resemble each other in form, size, color, 
or in innate qualities. The kind of order for which an 
individual would be most remarkable, would depend on 
the relative size and activity of the other intellectual 
organs. If the reflective organs were large and active, 
he would be fond of what is termed philosophical ar- 
rangement and order. If the perceptive organs in gen- 
eral predominate, then he would be governed by the 
physical qualities ; and in this the most attention would 
be paid to those qualities which are recognised by the 
most active organs. When there are several large per- 
ceptive organs, the organ of order would not be exercised 
readily in harmony with them all. 

This, like the organ of locality, renders great assist- 
ance to our powers of recollection. By classification, 
we reduce the number of distinct objects of memory in a 
remarkable degree. But remarks upon this branch of 
the subject, should be made in the article devoted to 
memory. 

The organ is established by thousands of facts. It is 
found to be larger in females than in males. But in them 
its more usual effect is, to give a love of order, neatness, 
and attention to domestic arrangements. Those who 
are much employed in arranging papers and goods, will 
be likely to be conscious of great activity of the organ. 
It sometimes acquires a troublesome degree of activity, 
and renders people too particular. The organ is situated 
beside that of color, and is often distinguishable by a 
protuberance. It may be noticed as large, when the 
forehead at the lower corners is particularly large. 



120 PHRENOLOGY. 

XXIX. — Number. 

We should be utterly confused with the multitude of 
objects with which we become acquainted, had we no 
power to number them. Without this power we can take 
cognizance of them, individually, with their qualities and 
relations ; but we never could, unless we know how many 
objects are before us, or compare one cluster of objects 
with another, and ascertain the difference. We might, 
by aid of the organ of size, determine quantity * in 
reference to magnitude, but not to multitude. By aid of 
the organ of number, we are enabled to form ideas of a 
plurality of objects by enumeration, and to describe them 
by numbers. And by the same power applied upon arith- 
metical principles, we can measure quantities of magni- 
tude as well as multitude. To do this, a certain known 
quantity is first assumed as a measure, and the magnitude 
of the whole is determined by the number of times it con* 
tains the first assumed measure. By this power we may 
easily measure the earth we inhabit. From the above 
view we may define number to be that faculty which 
takes notice of quantity, considered as multitude, while 
the organ of size recognises it only as to magnitude. 
It concerns unity, and the power of repeating it, or plu- 
rality. Hence it applies to all the operations of arithmetic 
and algebra ; but not to the higher branches of mathe- 
matics. It assists us to recollect dates and numbers. 

This organ has frequently been noticed in children, 
under circumstances of morbid activity. We have all 

* The doctrine of quantity is most lucidly illustrated in the com- 
mencement of Emerson's North American Arithmetic, — a work 
which I should be delighted to see in every school in the country. 



EVENTUALITY. 121 

heard of calculating boys. Of this number were George 
Bidder, Zerah Col burn, and the son of an Advocate of 
Vienna, whose name is not given. All these boys had 
the organ large ; but this circumstance, I apprehend, is 
not sufficient to account for their wonderful powers. 
Besides, the power came suddenly, and without exercise 
and instruction, and continued only while under high 
nervous excitement.* 

The organ was large in Buxton, Newton, Euler, and 
Hutton. In our own country, I can mention Dr. Bow- 
ditch and Mr. R. T. Paine, as cases of it. It is very 
deficient in certain races of negroes, who can only count 
five. 

The organ is a little outward of the external angular 
process of the frontal bone, and fills the space at the 
external part of the socket of the eye. Brute animals 
have not the power of numbering. 

XXX. — Eventuality. 

It will be recollected that the organ of individuality 
takes notice of existences, or things ; and that one class 
of the perceptive organs notices the qualities, and another 
the relations of objects to each other. Of these last, we 
have already noticed those of relative position or locality, 
classification or order, and number. Thus far, every 
thing has been contemplated without regard to its being 
in a state of motion or rest. But when we look abroad, 

* Previous to the wonderful manifestations of Arithmetical power 
exhibited by young Colburn, he had been afflicted with chorea, and 
was at the time very nervous, and sometimes evidently suffered 
pain, when called on to exhibit his powers; and when he recovered 
his health, he lost his extraordinary calculating power. 
11 



122 PHRENOLOGY. 

we see all is life, animation, movement, change, transi- 
tion, and revolution. These changes are noticed as phe- 
nomena, or events, and become subjects for observation 
and recollection. 

So, too, if we notice the operations of our own minds, 
we find all is change, — change in feelings, and in the 
succession of ideas. Every thing is mutable, throughout 
the universe. It has even been said that the natural 
state of matter is that of motion. And past thoughts and 
feelings can never be contemplated, except as events. 

We have not yet noticed a faculty whose function it 
is to observe and remember these motions, phenomena, 
changes, and events ; and it would seem to require a 
distinct faculty, with its appropriate organ. Phrenolo- 
gists claim to have discovered the organ of this faculty, 
and have given to it the name of eventuality. 

As every thing in the universe is so constantly in a 
state of change, and this change is noticed by the organ 
in question, its operation will be very extensive. So far 
as it records and remembers events, it is an organ of 
memory. But it extends only to changes ; and memory, 
as applied to it, only indicates a degree of its activity. 

The organ is proved by the same kind of evidence as 
all the preceding, — the evidence of observation. And 
here the faculty in question has been principally active 
in this very observing process. Individuality, and the 
other organs of quality, notice the faculty and its organ, 
and eventuality recognises the phenomena that take place, 
and records that, wherever a large organ appears, there 
is a great power of observation, and vivid recollection of 
things so observed. It is largely developed in children, 
and they are fond of motion, change, life, events, and 



EVENTTCALITV. 123 

stories. Every thing to them is new and strange; hence 
tferreilousness is also large in children. The organ of 
eventuality is situated in the centre of the forehead. 
It lies directly above individuality, below comparison, 
and between the organs of locality. An observation of 
different individuals will show very great differences in 
the centre region of the forehead. 

Those, who have a deficiency of the organ, will have 
this part of the forehead depressed, and will remember 
details and events in their minute particulars with great 
difficulty, while those, who have this part large, will dis- 
tinctly remember every minute circumstance. Every 
thing will appear lively and in motion. If they go a 
journey, they will have a great many events to record. 
Those, who have the organ large, with comparison large 
and moderate causality, like to know every thing by 
experiment. It would see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. 
It is essential to editors, secretaries, historians, and 
teachers. Dr. Spurzheim remarks that this faculty and 
individuality contribute essentially to the unity of con- 
sciousness, and to the recognition of the entity myself m 
philosophy. Mr. Combe says, " each organ communi- 
cates consciousness of the feelings and ideas which it 
serves to manifest ; thus, if an organ of tune be extremely 
deficient, the individual will not be able to attain a con- 
sciousness of melody ; a person in whom conscientious- 
ness is extremely deficient, will not be conscious of the 
sentiment of justice, nor of its obligations; one, in whom 
veneration is very feeble, will not be conscious of the 
emotions of piety, nor of the duties arising from it." To 
reconcile the views of Dr. Spurzheim and Mr. Combe, 
and find where the truth lies, is not an easy matter. One 



124 



PHRENOLOGY. 



thing is clear, that all the operations of the mind, when 
passing, may be observed, and when passed, may be 
remembered as events. The degree of impression, 
they will make, will depend on the size and activity 
of the organs concerned. The organ of eventuality 
may take cognizance of the doings of the organs re- 
quired, noticing the degrees of activity of each ; and 
where an organ has not been active, eventuality would 
have nothing to record concerning it. If I had been 
looking for five minutes at the picture of my deceased 
friend, and had recalled to my mind his virtues, and 
many of my feelings had been excited ; and a few days 
afterwards, I should attempt to recall the scene, the organ 
of eventuality would certainly be active, with all the other 
perceptive organs, in reviving the scene as before. I 
should remember my friend's countenance, and my own 
thought and feelings at the time. Now eventuality was 
active at the time, or the impressions on it would not 
have been so strong as to be capable of being recalled. 
Are we conscious only through the recognitions of even- 
tuality, or is there a consciousness of every faculty active, 
besides this 1 To decide this, it would be well to observe, 
whether those, in whom eventuality is large, are more 
conscious of what is passing in their own minds than 
others? And this would depend very much upon the 
activity of self-esteem, love of approbation, and the other 
selfish organs, as these have a direct tendency to call 
attention to every thing concerning self. 

Eventuality, when active on exciting subjects, would 
excite the feelings interested. So would strong feelings, 
when spontaneously active, excite eventuality. 



TIME 125 

XXXI. — Time. 

Those who reflect a moment upon the apparent rapid- 
ity, with which time passes under certain circumstances, 
and how very slowly it seems to pass under other circum- 
stances, will be at a loss to account for these differences 
upon any principles independent of phrenology. When 
speaking of eventuality, it was remarked that almost 
every thing manifests life, movement, change, transition, 
or revolution. These motions, so far as they belong to 
the planetary system, are governed by certain laws, so as 
to bring about certain phenomena at stated periods. 
Hence we have the first division of time, by the revolu- 
tion of the earth around the sun, and this is termed a 
year. Another natural division is indicated by the chang- 
ing of the moon, and another by the diurnal revolution 
of the earth. From this, we have regular subdivisions, 
down to seconds. ■ 

Availing himself of mechanical powers and the laws 
of motion, man has constructed certain instruments, 
whose motions are regularly adjusted to that of the earth, 
so that, adopting these as standards, we can ascertain 
how much of a given revolution of the earth has taken 
place, as compared with the change which has taken 
place in the instrument. We have already spoken of the 
organ which notices change, &,c. But we have seen 
nothing that enabled us to take note of the degree of 
rapidity, or variety of movement. This evidently would 
require a distinct faculty and a distinct organ. We 
have evidence, that there is such a distinct faculty in 
the fact, that some excel in their knowledge of the lapse 
of minutes and hours, and can judge accurately of the 
11* 



126 PHRENOLOGY. 

time of day, while others take but little note of time. 
Some can mark time, march, or dance, with perfect 
accuracy, while others, no way deficient in other re- 
spects, cannot keep time at all. Some are called good 
timists in music, while others do not distinguish time. 

The organ is situated outward of locality, and the 
proofs of its location now are somewhat numerous. It 
is but recently, that I saw an individual remarkably 
deficient in the organ ; and he informed me, that it 
was inconceivable to him, how people could keep time, 
when marching to music. Mr. Simpson, in an article 
on this subject, says, that he was struck with the uncom- 
mon prominence of the organ of time, in a whole family 
of young people, and was informed that they all loved 
dancing, and danced with remarkable accuracy. 

That it is the function of the organ in question, to 
recognise movement , is apparent from the fact, that the 
deaf and dumb can dance, taking their time by the eye. 

But for the power of taking cognizance of movement, 
so as to judge of different stages of it, we should have 
no sense of progress. 

It will be seen, that time is precisely co-extensive with 
eventuality, the one noticing the motion itself, and the 
other, its degree of rapidity, and measuring its stages. 
As every thing by which we predicate time is an act or 
movement, so the faculty of time notices and compares 
movements. We measure the time of one thing by the 
time of another. The movement of the earth is the 
great standard measure. 

Measuring points in time are where revolutions are 
completed ; and by the assistance of number, we may 
enumerate revolutions, and thus describe time. 



TIME. ion 

Thus, on the dial of the watch, the entire revolution of 
the second hand is equal to one sixtieth part of a revolu- 
tion of the minute hand ; and a revolution of the minute 
hand, is equal to the movement of the hour hand, one 
twelfth of a revolution. 

In measuring and describing time, numbers are used 
as they are when applied to the measure and description 
of objects, in regard to multitude. We regard revolu- 
tions numerically, and speak of them by numbers. Cer- 
tain great events, which are recorded and known by all, 
become epochs, from which an account of time or an era 
commences. Thus, by figures, we note 1835 revolutions 
of the earth round the sun, since the birth of Christ. 

Why are our judgments of time frequently so incor- 
rect ? The answer suggested, consistent with the doc- 
trines of phrenology, is this : — 

1. The organ of time is not always active alike ; and 
when inactive, its judgments would be incorrect, just as 
judgments formed by the organ of size, when it is but 
slightly active. 

2. Our feelings, when active, have a warping influence 
on the judgments formed by any of the intellectual fac- 
ulties. Of these, cautiousness, hope, and marvellousness, 
would be likely to produce the greatest effect. When an 
event is much desired, the progress of events in general 
is narrowly watched, and marvellousness helps to fix a 
belief that the progress is much slower than it is. I think 
time is thus prolonged by anxiety, and shortened bv in- 
activity of the organ of time. 

Dr. Spurzheim remarks, that the natural language of 
time is to turn the eyes upward. 



128 PHRENOLOGY. 

XXXII. — Tune. 

The ear is the instrument by which sounds are con- 
veyed to the internal organs ; but it has no power of no- 
ticing and remembering what the notes are, whether high 
or low, loud or soft. The organs of the voice are so con- 
stituted, as to make both high and low sounds ; and also 
in each sound it has the power of rendering them loud or 
soft. Musical instruments are also so constituted as to 
make all these varieties of sound. Simple sounds may 
be so arranged in reference to their notes, as to produce 
melody, or in other words, to give an agreeable exercise 
to the organ of tune ; and several voices or instruments 
may do this simultaneously, each performing their parts 
so as to give pleasure. But it must be done in such a 
manner as to exercise the organ harmoniously. 

The organ of tune, when large, discriminates readily 
the minutest differences in sounds, and quickly notices 
both melody and harmony. It also enables those, who 
have the organ active, to read music readily and to re- 
member it. Observations show that this power is pos- 
sessed by some, and not by others ; and that when the 
organ is large, it may be easily noticed. 

I have noticed the organ to be large, in many instan- 
ces, where the power is possessed. Several cases are 
recorded of a morbid power in this organ. A young 
lady, mentioned by Dr. A. Combe, had suffered almost 
constantly from headache, and one day the pain was 
acute, at the external angle of the forehead, precisely in 
the situation of the organ of tune, which was largely 
developed. The next day, the same pain recurred, and 
its location was pointed out by herself, On another occa- 



LANGUAGE* 1 39 

sion she complained of pain in the organ of tunc, and 
said that she had been dreaming a great deal of hearing 
the finest music. After these dreams had been continued 
a lew nights, the excitement of the organ had reached a 
height that could not be controlled. The patient felt, 
not to say a desire only, but a strong, irresistible passion, 
or craving for music, which it was painful, beyond en- 
durance, to repress. She insisted on getting up, and 
being allowed to play and sing; and shortly after, she 
got hold of a guitar, lay down on a sofa, and fairly gave 
way to the torrent ; and with a volume, clearness, and 
strength of voice, and with great facility of execution, 
she sang an accompaniment, til] her musical faculties 
became spent and exhausted. 

The case of Jane C. Rider furnishes evidence of the 
morbid state of all the perceptive organs. She had never 
learnt to sing, or play, but in her paroxysms, her fondness 
for singing amounted to a passion. — she was never satis- 
fied with listening. She also sung several tunes, herself, 
with tolerable correctness. 

The organ, when large, enlarges the lateral parts of 
the forehead. But its form is not always the same. 
Great practice is necessary to be able to observe this 
organ successfully. 

XXXIII. — Language. 

We have examined all those faculties which enable us 
to form conceptions of things, their qualities, and rela- 
tions. And as man is a social being, and not only com- 
municates, but records and transmits his knowledge, and 
as this can be but imperfectly done, by exhibiting the 
objects themselves, with their qualities, relations, and 



130 



PHRENOLOGY. 



acts, we stand in need of a power of representation, so 
as that one thing may stand in place of another. Thus, 
instead of bringing to a man a tree, when we want to 
inform him of the qualities of such an existence, we can 
substitute a combination of marks, which are recognised 
by the organ of form, and, taken together, constitute the 
word tree. We can also make a certain sound, or mo- 
tion, the representation of an object. By aid of the 
higher intellectual powers, man has invented many thou- 
sands of these signs, and they are adopted, in common 
use, as arbitrary language. In the recognition of these, 
without regarding them as signs, the perceptive organs, 
already noticed, are alone active. The organs of form, 
size, weight, and color, are all active in recognising a 
single written or printed word ; and the organ of tune 
is active in noticing spoken words. But a distinct facul- 
ty is necessary to enable us to conceive of these words, 
as being the representatives of tilings and acts, in all 
their relations and variety, so as to communicate the im- 
pressions of one mind to another. Those, who are deaf 
and dumb, are deprived of the power of using words as 
sounds, and the blind cannot apprehend mere written 
words. But the power of substitution still remains, and 
the mode of it is made to conform to the condition of the 
person to whom the signs are addressed. The organ of 
the faculty, by which we are enabled to use a sign for 
something signified, is called that of language. It is 
easy to see that the power is peculiar in its nature, and 
we should be led to suppose it would be manifested by 
its appropriate organ. 

But we are not left to mere conjecture. It is proved 
by nearly all the tests. It is possessed in very different 



LANGUAGE. 131 

degrees, by different individuals, who have other powers, 
in equal degree. Jt does not belong to the lower ani- 
mals generally. Half-idiot children there are, who 
never speak, although they do many things, like reason- 
able persons. There have been cases of disease in the 
organ. Dr. Hood, of Kilmarnock, had a patient, who 
had the ordinary knowledge of written and spoken lan- 
guage, but who suddenly began to speak incoherently. 
She had forgotten the name of every object in nature. 
The particulars of this case are mentioned in the Edin- 
burgh Phrenological Journal, and are copied into Mr. 
Combe's system. 

Where situated, and lioio developed. — The organ is 
situated in the posterior and transverse part of the orbi- 
tary plate, and, when large, presses the plate and eye 
downward and outward. When the fibres are long, they 
press the eye as far forward as the eye-brows. If only 
thick, they press them towards the outer angle of the 
orbit. 

Function of the organ. — I have already remarked, 
that it gives the power of connecting ideas with substi- 
tuted signs. But the superior intellectual faculties assist 
to invent artificial signs ; and signs cannot, in the na- 
ture of things, be antecedent to the thing signified. 
Signs, too, require to be multiplied, and modified, ac- 
cording to the sensations and conceptions of the mind. 
Hence, if we look into the grammar of a language, we 
shall find that the sorts of signs correspond to the func- 
tions of the several faculties. This shows why, in a 
language, there are different kinds of words, or parts of 
speech. Thus, if I say, Behold three large colored 
men, who are rapidly running, side by side, across the 



132 PHRENOLOGY. 

bridge — to conceive the statement above requires the 
activity of individuality, form, size, weight, color, lo- 
cality, order, number, eventuality, and time ; and to 
express it requires the use of nearly all the parts of 
speech. 

Persons, who have the organ of language large, and 
active, have a torrent of words flowing in upon them, 
whenever they become excited, in speech, or composi- 
tion. But it does not follow, that such will be forward 
to appear on occasions, which require the exercise of 
language, because there may be great cautiousness, se- 
cretiveness, or diffidence. Another manifestatio nof the 
activity of the organ may be found in the disposition 
some people show, to give new appellations to familiar 
ideas. If the reflective organs and marvellousness be 
large, as well as the organ of language, the individual 
will be likely to have great facility in inventing arbitrary 
signs, and new varieties, and compounds. One of the 
signs of the great activity of the organ is a conscious 
desire to find a name or sign to represent every new 
idea. 

Such people, too, will have a vivid recollection of a 
vast number of signs, with which they have been in the 
habit of associating their ideas. When the doctrines of 
Phrenology come to be generally understood, the admi- 
ration excited by the possession of a great number of 
dead and foreign languages will be much diminished. It 
will then be considered merely as evidence of a large 
organ of language, and as no evidence of superior gene- 
ral talents. 



COMPARISON. 133 



XXXIV. — Comparison. 



The perceptive organs, thus far examined, enable us 
to contemplate all the particular qualities and relations 
of an object, as isolated particulars ; individuality being 
as the trunk, of which all the rest are but branches. 
These serve, as it were, to enable us to see and define 
all the particular qualities and relations of things, and, 
taken together, to regard them as one whole. Compari- 
son is the organ of the faculty which judges of the fit- 
ness of one thing, thus viewed as a whole, to another. 
It enables us to take into view and compare all our ob- 
jects of knowledge, discriminating differences and re- 
semblances between things taken as an aggregate. It 
also discovers general attributes. Dr. Spurzheim re- 
marks, that " It compares, discriminates, separates, ab- 
stracts, adapts, and generalizes." It enables us to see 
resemblances and differences, and to compare the innate 
qualities of one thing with those of another. 

It enables as to adapt and adjust one thing to another 
in due proportion, so as to produce an harmonious whole. 
Hence comparison becomes a leading quality in that 
combination which constitutes judgment. As such, it is 
of great importance in the character, and I have never 
seen an individual, with the organ in question small, 
who was characterized for sound judgment. It does not 
follow, however, that every one, who has this organ large, 
will have sound judgment. Defective perceptive organs, 
— small power of tracing causation, — particular, strong, 
and wayward propensities, — all, or any of these, may 
cause a defect in presenting to comparison the materials 
for sound judgment. This subject will be resumed 
12 



134 PHRENOLOGY. 

in an article upon judgment, in a subsequent part of the 
work. 

Location of the organ. — The organ of comparison is 
situated below benevolence, extending downward to the 
centre of the forehead, in the shape of an inverted pyra- 
mid. Its great activity tends to increase the size and 
activity of benevolence. Hence I frequently observe 
large comparison and benevolence in the same head, 
and connected with great active benevolence. This 
characterizes the head of the Rev. Dr. J. of Boston. 
Hence there is a more intimate connexion between high 
intellectual activity and moral improvement than is gene- 
rally supposed. 

It does not follow, that a person who is prone to make 
playful or poetical comparisons has a large organ or fac- 
ulty of comparison. It implies, rather, the activity of 
marvellousness and mirthfulness. Poets and painters 
are as likely to have the organ small as large. Those 
who form their judgments suddenly, on subjects of great 
moment, do not thereby indicate the superiority of the 
comparing power, but rather that they have acted with 
very little of its aid. The proportion which is most likely 
to be connected with strong comparing power is marked 
by a gentle curve line, horizontally drawn around, near 
the centre of the forehead. 

XXXV.— Causality. 

We have noticed the faculties which make us acquaint- 
ed with the physical qualities and relations of things, 
and also that which points out their identity, analogy, or 
difference, and their harmony or incongruity. There 
yet remains to be considered a faculty which observes 



I \I - W.ITY. 135 

the relation of cause and effect, and the nature, source, 

power, capability, um\ and adaptation of things. All 

requite a power which looks beyond mere physical 

peculiarities. 11* we see smoke, we know it is an effect 
caused by lire. A stream - a fountain. In man 

see physical, moral, and mental power, and the adap- 
tation of his organization so as to confer this power. 
We study the functions of all the animated creation. 

The faculty which enables us to take this internal sur- 
vey of things is causality. When the organ is active, it 
looks for those innate qualities and relations, just as we 
look for form, size, color, &c, in physical nature. 

There are great differences in the degrees in which 
this power is possessed by different individuals. Some 
are able to observe for themselves and make the correct 
deductions. But far greater numbers depend very much 
upon the authority of others, without seeing the depen- 
dence themselves. 

The mind relics upon the uniformity of natural laics. 
When, therefore, any thing, or combination of things, 
is ascertained to be a cause, or an effect, the foundation 
is laid for a genera} principle. But in arriving at this, 
we need to multiply our observations under a variety of 
circumstances by what is termed induction. Those who 
. would have entire confidence in the results of mathe- 
matical inquiries will repeat the operation several times. 
The Baconian system of induction is but such a repeti- 
tion of observations, under different circumstances, as to 
preclude, as far as possible, any mistake. 

Where effects may spring from several causes, or 
where several circumstances combine, and but a part of 
them act as causes, repeated observations and experi- 



136 PHRENOLOGY. 

merits are necessary to the discovery of truth. This is 
peculiarly the case in observations upon the relation be- 
tween cerebral development and mental manifestations. 
Owing to this, careless observers and thinkers, and those 
who are deficient in the organs of causality and compari- 
son, will never be able to see the full force of the evi- 
dence on which Phrenology is based. 

If we have established the relation of cause and ef- 
fect in a particular case, our reliance upon the uniformi- 
ty of natural laws leads us, whenever we see the cause, 
to infer the effect, and whenever we see the effect, to 
infer the cause. Thus, having established the organ of 
self-esteem, whenever we see that organ large, we may 
infer the large endowment of the sentiment ; and when 
we see a constant manifestation of the sentiment, we 
infer the large size of the organ. 

Sometimes we find a long chain of events, each of 
which, when viewed in relation to prior events, is an 
effect, and also the cause of a subsequent event. But at 
every stage it is necessary to see that each effect is cor- 
rectly inferred and stated. 

From this view of causality, it will be observed to 
have a very extensive bearing upon the human charac- 
ter. Mr. Combe remarks, that " The mind in which 
causality is very powerful, surveys the phenomena of 
nature, and the conviction of a cause for them arises 
irresistibly and intuitively from the mere exercise of the 
faculty. Benevolence and design in the arrangement of 
the moral and physical world are clearly perceived by it, 
and it therefore infers instinctively, that benignity and 
intelligence are attributes of the cause that produced 
them, Hence all master spirits are believers in God," 



CAUSALITY. 137 

Location. — The organ of causality is situated be- 
tween comparison and mirthfulness. In some, the organ 
in question is developed with mirthfulness, as in Frank- 
lin. In others, it is developed by itself, and may be dis- 
tinctly noticed by the side of comparison. The organ 
is easily observed, and, when large, will manifest itself 
readily, in the conversation of the individual. When 
more active than comparison, and when the powers of 
observation in general are deficient, it is liable to exces- 
sive activity. In such cases, the individual may mani- 
fest great originality of mind, and extensive research, 
but will be w r anting in strong, practical common sense. 

Natural language. — If the reflective organs predomi- 
nate greatly, and especially causality, the individual, 
when thoughtful, will hang his head forward, and will 
move it slowly about. But when the perceptive organs 
are principally active, there will be greater quickness of 
movement of the head and eyes. If, however, the indi- 
vidual's perceptive organs be intensely engaged in the 
contemplation of distant scenes, his chin will be thrown 
out, and with it the active organs will be thrust forward, 
with the eyes wide open, as if fixed on some object. 

A comprehensive view of the intellectual faculties will 
enable us to see how necessary they all are to constitute 
the perfect intellect. If the perceptive organs be large 
and active, and the reflective small and feeble, there will 
be great power of observation and but little of reflection. 
If, on the other hand, the reflective organs only be large, 
then they may possess great power and spontaneous ac- 
tivity ; but, deprived of the materials which are alone 
gathered by the aid of the perceptive organs, they will 
be active to little purpose. Where there is great power 
12* 



138 PHRENOLOGY. 

in both the perceptive and reflective organs, we have an 
organization favorable to the discovery and communica- 
tion of philosophical truth. Any great predominance in 
any one or a few of the intellectual organs is a source 
of weakness, as it throws the character out of balance ; 
and in all those efforts of thought, which require the ex- 
ercise of the feeble organs, the mental processes will be 
defective. 

We need the whole to constitute the finished intellect. 
Individuality, with its branch organs, makes us acquaint- 
ed with objects and their qualities and relations ; event- 
uality observes movements and changes ; comparison 
discriminates, identifies, harmonizes, and comprehends 
all the parts ; while causality looks to the cause, nature, 
source, capability, and adaptation of things. 



CHAPTER IX. 



GENERAL VIEWS OF THE EXTERNAL SENSES, AND OF THE 
CEREBRAL ORGANS. 

The structure and functions of each of the external 
senses were briefly explained in another part of this 
work. It remains now to examine some of those partic- 
ulars which apply to them all. 

The first remark is, that the organs of the external 
senses, as well as those of the brain, are all double. 
This seems designed for a wise and benevolent purpose. 



EXTERNAL SENSES AND CEREBRAL ORGANS. 1-39 

If we unfortunately lose one organ, the other soon acquires 
strength and performs the functions of both. 

But a question of some difficulty of explanation has 
been made, why double organs should not convey to the 
mind double impressions of the objects contemplated by 
them I 

Let us examine this subject. Objects impressed upon 
the external senses stimulate the internal organs to form 
ideas. This stimulus is not distinguishable, as coming 
through double organs. The impressions made on both 
contribute to stimulate the internal organs. But where 
one eye would, when exercised alone, have an image on 
the retina, different from the other, as we may suppose 
might sometimes be the case, the eye which held the 
strongest impression would prevail, and the impression 
on the weaker would be only accumulative. Let us take 
the experiment suggested by Mr. G. Combe, which may 
be easily tried with spectacles. Suppose you have one 
glass, thin, yellow, and transparent, and the other thick, 
blue, and opaque. The object viewed through both glass- 
es, will appear just as if both glasses were tinged with 
yellow, but will not be seen quite as distinctly, as if both 
were equally transparent. Here the stronger image on 
the retina of the eye, shaded by the yellow glass, rules 
the internal impression, and all that the eye, covered by 
the green, does, is to help to suggest the idea which is 
principally formed from the communication through the 
other eye. This explains how the impression made upon 
the brain may be in effect the same as if conveyed 
through a single organ. If one eye were shut, and an 
impression were made upon the other only, this impres- 
sion would be conveyed as much to the intellectual 



140 PHRENOLOGY. 

organs of one hemisphere of the brain as of the other. 
It is not by consciousness, that we know how much is 
done by one organ, and how much by the other, or that 
we see with two eyes, rather than one. This, however, 
may be known in various other ways, as by shutting one 
eye, or by experiencing sensations of pain from too in- 
tense an exercise. 

One eye is habitually more active in transmitting im- 
pressions to the brain than the other, so that our eyes 
(optical instruments as they are) may be very justly 
compared to the spectacles with green and yellow glasses. 
This may be illustrated. Place two objects so that the 
nearest will, with both eyes open, appear exactly in a 
line from the eye to the more distant object, — then shut 
one eye, and the more distant object will appear in a 
line still ; but open it, and shut the other, and it will ap- 
pear some inches one side. This shows that one eye 
controls the other. Hence w r e have an explanation of 
single consciousness, when the organs of the senses are 
double. 

But we have not yet explained the phenomenon of our 
contemplating objects singly with double cerebral or- 
gans. Here I think we have a key to the solution of 
this difficult question. The two hemispheres of the brain 
are frequently of unequal size. There is usually, indeed, 
some slight difference, and sometimes it is such as to be 
quite perceptible. Now if both hemispheres are active, 
the conceptions formed by one might reasonably be sup- 
posed to be stronger than those formed by the other. Yet 
both are active, and only slightly differ in their degrees 
of activity. Now, as in the case of the external senses, 
the stronger and more active organ would give the im- 



EXTERNAL SENSES AND CEREBRAL ORGANS. 1 11 

press ion, and the other would only assist to make it the 
stronger. 

That botli of the organs of the external senses are ac- 
tive at the same time, is apparent from the fact, that we 
hear better with both ears, and see better witli both eyes, 
than with one. And so with the brain ; if we think and 
feel with both hemispheres, we shall think and feel more 
forcibly, than when only one is active. It is believed 
that the doctrine, that only one of the organs of sense, 
or of the brain, is active at the same time, and that they 
alternately act and rest, is not correct; and, therefore, 
cannot be admitted as an explanation of single con- 
sciousness. 

I have thought it quite possible that the laws of habit, 
and of exercise and rest, might throw some light on this 
subject. Suppose the mind active for a long time, until 
its organs became fatigued, and that one hemisphere had 
been more active than the other, and had become more 
weary; if, in such case, exercise were continued, would 
it not be quite natural for the side more fatigued to yield 
its load to the one less so ? This is quite analogous to a 
change of the weight of the body, from one side to the 
other. Most of us, I believe, will recollect times when, 
from some anxiety of mind, we could not compose our- 
selves to sleep, and yet our thoughts were confused : and, 
having changed the position of our heads from one side 
to the other, (by which the pressure on the brain is 
changed,) we have felt temporary relief from our con- 
fusion. We have then, perhaps, seen our subject in an 
entirely changed light. Was not this in consequence of 
a change in the lead of the cerebral organs? 



142 PHRENOLOGY. 

On the peculiar Formation of the Senses, as fitting them 
for their distinctive Functions. 

Objects, with which we become acquainted through 
the external senses, have many distinctive qualities, and 
we need one sense to determine one quality, and another 
to determine another ; and we may determine the same 
quality by more than one sense. We may become ac- 
quainted with the form and size of an object, both by 
sight and touch. So by touch we may determine that 
water and spirit are fluids ; but smell, or taste, or sight, 
are necessary to determine which is which. 

The senses serve also the further purpose of correct- 
ing each other. By the sense of touch we determine 
the errors of sight. They also obviously contribute to 
make more deep and vivid the impressions upon the cere- 
bral organs. 

Laics of the Exercise of the Senses. 

The functions of the senses are improved by observing 
the laws of exercise and rest. If we neglect their ex- 
ercise for a considerable time, they become like a band- 
aged arm. The blood ceases to flow into them, and the 
senses suffer in their structure. 

They should be exercised with a reasonable degree of 
intensity. As slow walking is no exercise, so is much 
of the moderate using of the senses no exercise of them. 
They should rest at regular intervals. This gives them 
an opportunity to restore their lost vigor, and to gain 
something more for increase of power. 



LIMITS OF THE SENSES. 113 

Limits of the SS uses* 

After what has been said of the functions of the exter- 
nal senses, and of the internal cerebral organs, it would 
seem almost unnecessary to point out the precise limits 
of each. Still, these should be very distinctly contem- 
plated by the mind. 

1. The senses, it should be recollected, have no power 
to form ideas. The image of an object of sight is painted 
on the retina of the eye, but this is not the idea. The 
optic nerve communicates between the retina and the 
brain, and the cerebral organs form the idea. So if I 
touch a book, it is not the sense of touch which gives 
me the idea of the book, but the internal cerebral organ. 
The nerves of feeling in the hand communicate the 
impression made upon it to the brain, where the organs 
of the brain form the idea. 

There is some difficulty in distinguishing between the 
functions of the internal and the external organs. 

The best test for determining is this, — external senses 
cannot recall former impressions, without the presence of 
the object by which they are formed. But the internal 
organs have this power. Whatever can be revived by an 
effort of conception, or memory, is the work of the inter- 
nal perceptive organs, and not of the external senses. 



144 PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER X. 



TEMPERAMENTS. 



Temperaments have attracted the attention of medi- 
cal men, in reference to disease, from early times ; and 
having been noticed to produce an influence on the men- 
tal and moral conditions, have by some been erroneously 
considered as sufficient to explain all the great differences 
in moral feeling and mental manifestation. But this 
was refuted by recurrence to facts, as observation will 
show, that every sort of feeling and talent may be ob- 
served along with any variety of temperament. The 
truth requires that we should take temperament into view, 
in connexion icitli cerebral organization, and other condi- 
tions^ allowing to each their appropriate and peculiar 
influence. 

Temperament results from the different proportions or 
equilibrium among the parts that make up our organiza- 
tion, and is but an extension of the Doctrine of Propor- 
tions, noticed in a former chapter, (page 33.) There is 
in each individual a mode of existence which distin- 
guishes his temperament from that of any other. 

There are four temperaments usually spoken of among 
physiologists. These are the Sanguine, Lymphatic, Bil- 
ious, and Nervous. 

When the balance of the system is overborne by the 
great size and energy of the heart, lungs, and blood- 
vessels, indicated by a sharp and strong pulse and ruddy 
complexion, the Sanguine temperament appears. In such 
an individual, the blood will, by the agency of the lungs, 



TEMPERAMENTS. 145 

be impregnated plentifully with atmospheric oxygen, and 
flow freely through the minutest parts of the system, and 
furnish a fine stimulus to the brain. Persons of this 
temperament will bear sustained effort without injury ; 
and, if exhausted, soon recover tone. They are usually 
fond of a good share of animal food, eat with avidity, 
and appear, like carnivorous animals, to devour their 
food, — but their digestion is imperfect, and they often 
remain dry, thin, and gaunt. 

This temperament operates in a manner calculated to 
increase the activity of many of the cerebral organs, as 
alimentiveness, amativeness, adhesiveness, combativeness, 
destructiveness, hope, benevolence, and intellect gener- 
ally. The perceptive organs, in particular, are likely to 
be exceedingly acute, in individuals of this and the ner- 
vous temperament, especially when inflammation commen- 
ces. A gentleman of this temperament informed me, 
that when he had a lung fever, a few years since, the 
room in which he was appeared always light, and he 
could see with great distinctness, when others could not. 
Among a large number of us, in a stage, in the evening, 
he was the only one who could give us the time, by look- 
ing at his wateh. This temperament tends to counteract 
the ill effects of too large cautiousness, and too small 
self-esteem and hope, — but inflames too large hope, 
benevolence, combativeness, &>c. Hence we associate 
with a sanguine man a choleric temper, and visionary, 
sanguine expectations. Hence, too, the old notion, that 
persons of this temperament love variety, and are gener- 
ous, quick, and delicate in love. 

Moderate living, and moderate exercise, will reduce 
an individual from this, to a more equalized state of the 
13 



148 PHRENOLOGY. 

system. High living tends to inflame the propensities, 
while moderate and temperate living are more favorable 
to the calm action of the higher sentiments and higher 
intellect. One, therefore, should regulate his diet, not 
only from immediate regard to health, but in reference 
to mental and moral conditions. Criminals are best re- 
formed upon low diet. 

Lymphatic temperament. — This temperament is deter- 
mined by the proportion of the abdominal viscera. When 
these are large, they have a tendency to activity, and 
they convert into chyle a great portion of what is taken 
into the stomach. Persons of this temperament eat little 
and often, digest continually, and sleep freely. In such 
persons, if the lungs and heart be small, the proportion 
of the fluids to the solids is too great. The skin is 
plump, muscle soft, and the whole person becomes cor- 
pulent. The serum in the blood is in too great propor- 
tion, and the blood is not sufficiently impregnated with 
oxygen, to produce a sufficient stimulus to the cerebral 
organs. Hence the individual will be averse to either 
bodily or mental activity. There may be a fondness for 
reading, and correctness of judgment, but little sponta- 
neous activity, or deep feeling. A combination of this 
temperament, with large hope and benevolence, and 
small cautiousness and acquisitiveness, would incline 
one to indolence, ease, and improvidence. History does 
not abound in such characters, for they are about as soon 
forgotten as dead. They may be said to vegetate while 
they live. This temperament may be improved by active 
physical exercise, short sleep, forced study, frequent use 
of the lungSj as in public speaking, or reading aloud, 
with spare diet, which is composed of a good share of 
fibrous meats. 



TEMPERAMENTS. 1 17 

Bilious temperament. — Mr. Noble, in an article uii 
temperaments, in the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal, 
has a new view of this temperament, by which he is able 
to account for its influence upon the activity of the cere- 
bral organs. The temperament, as its name would 
indicate, is to be found where the biliary system predomi- 
nates. " It must," says he, " be regarded in two points 
of view. 1st. As to the depuration of the venous blood, 
and the healthful stimulation of the alimentary canal. 
The due arterialization of the blood is essential to the 
full possession of its vital qualities." This process, we 
have seen in another place, is performed in part, at least, 
by the agency of the lungs. The organ which secretes 
bile, also contributes largely to this process, Again, 
there subsists at all times a strong sympathy between 
the brain and alimentary canal, so that, when one fails 
to perform its functions well, the other soon begins to 
suffer. The bile is well known to act as a powerful 
stimulant upon the intestinal tube, into which it is con- 
veyed from the liver by its appropriate duct. Hence we 
may see the manner and degree, in which the functional 
activity of the brain may be affected by the character of 
the biliary system. 

The signs of the predominance of this temperament 
are, — a hard and strong pulse, veins cutaneous and 
projecting, — complexion swarthy, hair black, or dark 
brown, the body moderately fleshy, and the muscles firm 
and well marked. 

Observations have shown, that individuals character- 
ized by this temperament, are more likely to be energetic, 
and active. They are less sensual than those of the 
sanguine, and less indolent than those of the lymphatic 



148 PHRENOLOGY. 

temperament. When the liver is diseased, and its effect 
is to stain the skin, it becomes less agreeable in its effect 
upon the brain, because it no longer serves to eliminate 
the noxious ingredients of the venous blood, which there- 
fore becomes thick, dark, and sluggish, and fails to give a 
lively, healthful stimulus to the brain. Persons in this 
state, feel the depressing effects of too active cautious- 
ness, reverence, and marvellousness, while self-esteem is 
inactive. In these gloomy moods, they are troubled with 
a pressure of blood upon the brain, and great depression 
of spirits, and often predict that they shall not live long. 
Again, secretiveness, acquisitiveness, and destructivenes 
become diseasedly active, and they believe that they are 
coming to want, and that conspiracies are formed against 
them ; at other times they will appear to take a great 
interest in religion, — perhaps make a profession. But 
all this is no evidence of a healthful change of views and 
feelings.. 

Nervous temperament. — The writers on temperament, 
so far as I have seen, speak of a nervous temperament. 
I have been in great doubt as to the propriety of this. 
Mr. Thomas describes it as indicated by the large size of 
the head, compared with the other parts of the system. 
This condition is sufficiently taken into view in the 
remarks made upon the size of the head, as a measure 
of power, and in our remarks upon the brain. What, 
however, constitutes the nervous temperament, is a head 
too large for a due proportion to the abdominal and tho- 
racic viscera. This is a source of weakness, and tends 
to disease, as is explained in the chapter on Proportion. 
When the thorax is large also, there may be great energy 
of character, as in the case of Cassius, Brutus, and 



TEMPERAMENT-. 149 

I'icero. But where the head alone is large, there miy 
teat precocity, and great genius, — constituting a 
poet, an artist, or mere man of science, as in the cast 
so, Pope, Voltaire, Rousseau. Persons of this cast 
under great excitement, sometimes perform won- 
ders, — but will more often be unfit for any effort. Plu- 
tarch says of Pericles, that sometimes he was to be seen 
sitting in the street, fatigued by the weight of his head, 
and not knowing what part to take in the disorders of the 
State, and at other times thunder and lightning issued 
from his monstrous head with a tremendous noise. 

A large head, connected with a large abdominal vis- 
cera, and small thorax, will be a source of weakness. 
The blood will be but imperfectly supplied with oxygen. 
and deficient in quantity ; such persons will be likely to 
manifest stupidity, and inefficiency, rather than talent. 

With these preliminary remarks, it may be important 
in this place, to take a slight view of some of the influ- 
ences of the nervous system. Indeed, the nervous tem- 
perament cannot be thoroughly understood, without some 
knowledge of the nervous system. This knowledge is 
yet but imperfect. Philosophers of the present day are 
turning their attention to this part of our system, with 
great care and earnestness. The nerves may be traced. 
as may the muscles. They are visible and tangible. 
But there is supposed to be an invisible nervous fluid, or 
agent, which is known only in its effects and influences, 
as it acts upon the nerves. Like blood, it is essential to 
the vital action of every animal organ. When I move 
my arm, the muscles of that limb are called into play by 
an influence transmitted to it from the brain along the 
nerves. But these nerves serve only as conductors of the 
13* 



150 PHRENOLOGY* 

influence. This stimulus is so essential, that, if a nerve 
be divided, no effort of the mind will excite it into ac- 
tion. 

The perfection of this influence depends on the per- 
fection of the nerve. The principal seat of this influence 
is in the brain ; and the perfection of the influence de- 
pends much on the condition of this organ. Pleasing 
excitement increases its influence. Depression of feel- 
ing, and depression of this influence, will impair the 
functions of the organs. 

The quality of the nervous influence depends upon 
the condition of the brain. Hence, when all the organs 
of the brain are in healthy, vigorous action, under agree- 
able stimulus from the blood, the nervous influence sent 
forth is the most powerful, and all the functions are per- 
formed with ease and vigor. 

Habits of mental indolence, or of too high mental 
excitement, are opposed to the laws which govern this 
part of the system. 

Much of the quality of this influence depends upon 
the class of mental organs brought into agreeable exer- 
cise. If the sentiments have the ascendency, and the 
propensities are active in harmony, but in subordination, 
then the nervous influence is the most happy imaginable. 
But if the propensities predominate in activity, and the 
mind be at war with itself; or if grief and remorse indi- 
cate the wounded action of the sentiments; the nervous 
influence sent forth, is impaired, and bad health will be 
the necessary consequence. Physicians, who know these 
facts, will labor to bring into the most agreeable and 
sprightly action all the feelings, that a favorable nervous 
influence may cooperate with their medicine to produce 
the desired effect. 



TEMPERAMENTS. 151 

If vital action be concentrated in one part of the brain, 
the nervous stimulus sent forth is insufficient to excite 
the lungs, and digestive and other organs, — hence sighs, 
disordered digestion, and dispepsia. The influence of 
the brain is so direct, that affections of the head are often 
first indicated by sickness and vomiting. The conversa- 
tion of the physician often has quite as benefcial an effect 
as his medicine, and is quite as deserving of remunera- 
tion. 

From the above remarks, principally derived from Dr. 
A. Combe's work on the laws of health, it will be readily 
conjectured, that the nervous system has a most wonder- 
ful effect upon mental manifestation. 

The nervous temperament should not be mistaken for 
a diseased state of the nervous system, owing to general 
weakness and irritability. Yet there is danger, that, in 
speaking of the nervous temperament, you will be under- 
stood as indicating it when morbidly excitable, and there- 
fore as rather a diseased, than as a healthy, condition. A 
sedentary or inactive life, habitual indulgence in sensu- 
ality, morbid action of a part of the brain, — all these 
tend to produce this diseased condition. Neglect of the 
laws of exercise and diet does not increase nervous 
power, but diminishes the muscular power, and deranges 
all the functions of organs, which operate to check the 
predominance of the nervous system. 

Combinations of Temperaments. 

It will be easily seen that the most perfect temperament 
is, what may be termed, mixed. In this the proportions 
of the nervous system, thorax, and abdomen, are perfect. 
This is but another method of indicating the great doc- 



152 PHRENOLOGY. 

trine of proportion. Where this proportion is maintained 
in all the parts of the system, size becomes the true 
measure of power. By proportion here, is not meant so 
much that which constitututes superior beauty, for the 
proportion here contended for, may exist in a tall or short, 
stout or thin, beautiful or ugly person. 

The nervo-sanguineous temperament is one of great 
power, and favorable to a high degree of activity of the 
system. The head and thorax will be large, and habit 
spare. But the danger of this temperament is, that the 
digestion will suffer, and in consequence the whole sys- 
tem will suffer. 

If to this we add the bilious, we have a temperament 
the most active imaginable. 

The nervo-lymphatic temperament is characterized, as 
the temperament of children and females. The lungs 
and heart are small, and power of endurance moderate. 
Yet, with a good share of excitability, the form will be 
well rounded and handsome, and the head well devel- 
oped, — but the skin will be characterized by softness 
and paleness. 

The sanguine and lymphatic will be indicated by 
large muscles, bones, cellular membrane, thorax, and 
abdomen, and a small head. A person of this tempera- 
ment will be more of an animal than a man ; and will 
usually be characterized by the predominance of his 
propensities over the sentiments and intellect. This 
often characterizes great bullies, and those who always 
labor in the open air. 



QUALITY OF THE BRAIN. 158 



CHAPTER XI. 



QUALITY OF THE BRAIN. 



By Quality here is meant something quite different 
from temperament. It has reference merely to the de- 
gree of firmness and perfection in the structure of the 
brain. Some may suppose, by this time, we make the 
manifestation of mind depend on so many conditions, 
that it is impossible to form any accurate judgments on 
the subject. Let it be answered to this, that phrenolo- 
gists observe facts, and take into view all these particu- 
lars, — not to render the subject complicated, — but 
because they have an important bearing upon the degree 
of correctness of the judgments, which we shall be able 
to form upon individual character. If you were to pur- 
chase a piece of cloth in reference to beanty or dura- 
bility, you would not disregard the quality or firmness of 
the texture. On this subject I will give the views of 
some of the able writers in the Edinburgh Phrenological 
Journal, simply observing that I am in the habit of prac- 
tically regarding them in my judgments of character. 
The writer, in Vol. VI., p. 282, remarks : — "If any one 
were shown any of the bones of the skeleton of a deli- 
cately formed female, and of a strong and active laborer, 
the former of whom had lived a life of indolence and 
ease, and the latter one of hardship and toil ; he would 
be at no loss to decide, independently of their size, to 
which of the two they had belonged. The bones of the 
female would be as easily distinguished by their smooth- 



154 



PHRENOLOGY* 



ness, roundness, and fineness of texture from those of the 
laborer, marked as the latter would be by their size, 
coarseness, and angular roughness, as the fine skin of 
the one is from the coarse covering of the other. Every 
part of the system follows the same law. In the lowest 
ranks of life, we may meet with a man bearing externally 
the same form of body, and the same size of brain, with 
a man who is remarkable in another sphere for his talents 
and general vigor of mind ; but in two such persons, the 
stuff or quality, of which each is made, may be widely 
different. Contrast for a moment the thick coarse-grained 
sculls of some of the New Hollanders, with the fine 
texture and smoothness of the Circassian or Hindoo 
sculls, and you will find it vain to attempt, even in fancy, 
to figure them filled with brains of equal quality. With 
the same mental powers, where the development is alike 
in size, there will be a coarseness and roughness in the 
manifestations of the one, from which the other will be 
totally free. And this is felt in different individuals, even 
in civilized life. Of one man we say, that he is equally 
shrewd, kind, just, and affectionate as another ; but still 
he is not so refined in his manner of manifesting his 
feelings. Much of this difference depends on the quality 
of the brain, as well as on the peculiar combination of 
faculties ; and in determining the capacities for improve- 
ment, either of nations or of individuals, this must be 
kept in view, otherwise gross errors will be committed. 5 ' 

Also we find the following interesting remarks in Vol. 
VIII. of the same work, p. 369. 

" In the majority of human beings, the quality of the 
bodily organs varies within such narrow limits, that 
greater or less size affords an accurate indication of their 



QUALITY OF THE BRAIN. 155 

relative force and influence. But in a few individuals, 
at the extreme points of the scale, the difference of qual- 
ity is so great as to modify the effects of mere size. 

u That the difference of quality here insisted on is a 
fact in nature too influential to be overlooked, and not a 
mere ingenious supposition, may be easily established by 
observation. How very remarkable, for example, are 
the shades of coarseness or fineness in the skin and hair ! 
How very easily does every cook recognise the difference 
in the muscular system, in the greater or less coarseness 
of beef! How readily, too, does the anatomist generally 
discriminate female from male bones, by the greater fine- 
ness of their texture ! And how very coarse is the fabric 
of the scull and skeleton in savage tribes, compared with 
their appearance in civilized man ! So very striking are 
the differences of quality in the sculls in the Phrenologi- 
cal Museum, that when noticing Blumenbach's plates, in 
the 23d number of this Journal, (Vol. VI. p. 282,) Dr. 
Combe expressed his conviction, that, in most instances, 
a pretty accurate notion of the quality of the bodily 
organization, that of the brain included, might be ob- 
tained from the inspection of the scull alone ; and many 
circumstances concur to show that such is really the 
case ; and that where one texture is remarkable for any 
particular quality, all the rest will be in harmony with it, 
— great fineness and delicacy of structure in one part 
being rarely, if ever, accompanied with coarseness of 
other organs. " 

As the difference in the quality of different brains 
cannot be matter of direct inspection, when forming 
judgments upon the individual in full life, we are obliged 
to rely upon inferences drawn from inspection of other 



156 PHRENOLOGY. 

parts of the system. And as the laws of hereditary de- 
scent demonstrate that we may inherit the peculiarity of 
one ancestor, as to one part of the system, and of another 
ancestor, as to another part, we should be careful not to form 
our judgments upon a single circumstance. For instance, 
coarse skin or hair alone should not lead us to infer a 
coarse texture of brain. As the individual may have 
inherited the coarse skin of the father and the fine brain 
of the mother, &c. But we should take into view all 
the concurring circumstances, as the hair, skin, forma- 
tion of features, general formation of bones, &c. &c. 

Diet, and the degree and kind of exercise pursued, 
unquestionably have an influence upon the quality of the 
whole system. Suppose a large family from the humble 
walks of life, who have been reared in a retired country 
place, on coarse and homely fare. Let all of them remain 
but one, who shall be placed under other influences — 
and shall enjoy reasonably the excitements and luxuries 
of a healthy city, or large town, for twenty years, in the 
higher walks of life. Then let them come together, and 
my word for it, — you will see a great difference in the 
appearance of them ! You would almost say that the 
absent one had been made over, and that he had been 
wrought out of a finer material than the rest. His head 
too will be larger and more fully and equally developed. 
The improvement in this case will have arisen, not less 
from the superior activity of the brain, (which indirectly 
improves the action of the heart, lungs, powers of diges- 
tion, &/C.) than from the superior quality of the aliment 
to which he has been accustomed. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AFFECTIVE FACULTIES. 157 



CHAPTER XII. 

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY INFLUENCE OF THE AFFECTIVE 
FACULTIES EXPLAINED. 

Every organ has a primary and secondary influence. 
The primary influence is directly on its object, — the 
secondary is indirect, and comes in by reflection. Thus 
the primary influence of approbativeness is, to desire 
notoriety. It may have a secondary influence in leading 
us to desire riches, that we may attract notice by our 
display. Self-esteem directly desires power, and to feel 
conscious of its possession. A moment's reflection is 
sufficient to enable us to see that wealth confers power. 
Wealth may therefore be sought under the stronger, but 
still indirect and secondary, motive of self-esteem. 

This principle is of the greatest importance in forming 
judgments of character and motive. For instance, here 
is a man, who has assiduously toiled, night and day, for 
many a long year, to accumulate wealth. He has, per- 
haps, denied himself many comforts; — the world think 
him avaricious, and say, if acquisitiveness is not pre- 
dominant in his head, then there can be no truth in 
phrenology. An examination is made, and the organ of 
acquisitiveness is found to be no more than average. 
But the eye soon discovers a large development of ap- 
probativeness and self-esteem. You put the inquiry, 
what has induced him to toil so long and incessantly to 
accumulate wealth, and the answer will reveal the motive. 
You will find that acquisitiveness, although the apparent 
14 



158 PHRENOLOGY. 

and direct motive, is much less powerful than the secon- 
dary. He desired to possess wealth, that he might have 
power, and make a display. His language will be, it 
was a desire to raise myself in the world, and not be 
constantly mortified by the insolence of the rich. If 
secretiveness be active, he may attempt to deceive you 
with a story about his desire to provide comfortably for 
his children, &,c. 

I have remarked, that when secondary feelings act 
indirectly, as in the above case, you will find the indi- 
vidual has a respectable share of the higher intellectual 
faculties. When higher intellect is deficient, and the 
individual acts instinctively, the character is much more 
simple, and the motives more direct ; such persons go by 
sense and instinct, rather than reflection. 

Another thought in reference to the organs is this, 
that their manner of manifestation will be influenced by 
the state of public opinion, sentiment, and of society. 
For instance, dignity bears the same reference to self- 
esteem, as conscience does to conscientiousness, — and 
what would be dignified in one place, would not be so 
in another. So that intellect modifies all the actions of 
the feelings. 

Again, the assistance of the secondary organs is ne- 
cessary to modify, and often to disguise, the action of the 
primary feelings. Amativeness is elevated, refined, and 
softened by the simultaneous influence of adhesiveness, 
benevolence, and reverence. Philoprogenitiyeness is as- 
sisted by adhesiveness, benevolence, conscientiousness, 
cautiousness, &c. Acquisitiveness loses half its grossness, 
when active in connexion with the higher sentiments, 
and the domestic feelings. In the higher classes, where 



ACTIVITY OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 15*' 

there is a more general activity among the faculties, 
they are modified, and blended, and softened, so as 
to change their appearance very much. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE ACTIVITY OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES THEIR 

POWER TO EXCITE THE FEELINGS. 

The intellectual faculties alone produce ideas ; — the 
propensities and sentiments are blind, and their functions 
are to act upon the intellect, and also are susceptible of 
being excited to action, and of receiving gratification, 
through the agency of the intellect. The intellectual 
faculties tend to activity, and this activity is greater or 
less in degree, from mere perception, to conception, 
memory, imagination, fancy. This action may be spon- 
taneous, or it may be excited by external causes, or by 
both combined. In these various stages of activity, they 
become the causes of excitement to such of the affective 
faculties, as are interested by the objects contemplated 
by the intellect. Thus the intellect may spontaneously 
contemplate an absent friend, or it may be excited to 
such contemplation, by seeing a letter from him, and this 
will excite into lively activity several feelings, but more 
especially adhesiveness. The intellect serves only as a 
channel, through which exciting objects reach the feel- 
ings. Hence we may excite any feeling we please, 



160 PHRENOLOGY. 

through the agency of intellect. When the feelings are 
not excited, we have only to contemplate the exciting 
object, and the appropriate feeling will follow. 

Those, who exercise their intellects upon unexciting 
subjects much, will be able to contemplate what is pre- 
sented to the mind with comparative coolness. The 
ease, with which objects will excite the feelings, and the 
intensity of the excitement, will depend upon the propor- 
tion which the feelings bear to the intellect, the size of 
both added together, their habitual activity, and also the 
degree in which they are refreshed, and have a tendency 
to activity at the time. In the same individual feelings, 
which are predominant in size and activity, will be most 
readily excited. 

Hence, if we would influence an individual, we must 
appeal to those organs which are the largest and most 
active. If a public speaker would address the multitude 
in whom the propensities predominate, he should touch 
upon the objects which excite them. He should seize 
upon their prejudices. He should arouse their personal 
and party attachments, their local attachments, their love 
of offspring, their pride, love of praise, and their acquisi- 
tiveness. If any of the darling objects of these feelings 
have been abused, he may describe their abuses, and this 
will excite combativeness, and destructiveness, in addition. 
But the occasion should be one, when the feelings have a 
strong tendency to this kind of excitement. 



ACTIVITY OF THE FEELINGS. 1GJ 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ACTIVITY OF THE FEELINGS, AND THEIR EFFECT UPON THE 
INTELLECT. 

The affective faculties, also, have tendencies to spon- 
taneous activity ; and they are sometimes excited by ex- 
ternal objects through the medium of the intellect. 
They require exercise, and this exercise cannot long 
be neglected, without an infringement of natural laws. 
Their influence upon the intellect is principally of three 
kinds. 

]. When spontaneously active, they tend to excite 
the intellect to the contemplation of objects gratifying 
to them. As, for instance, when the feeling of benevo- 
lence is active, it will excite the intellect to contemplate 
benevolent projects, or objects in distress. In this view, 
the intellectual faculties become, in a manner, the instru- 
ments of the simultaneous, or successively active feelings. 

The second influence, which the feelings sometimes 
have upon the intellectual faculties, is to excite them 
into a greater degree of energy and power, than what 
they possess, when active without being excited by the 
feelings. Some of the feelings produce this effect to a 
remarkable degree; and, when under this influence, the 
intellect is carried to a wonderful degree of clearness 
and intensity. This, however, is not equally the case 
with all the propensities. When some of the more gross 
propensities are active, the intellect is proportionablv 
darkened. The exciting power of combativeness is 
14* 



162 PHRENOLOGY. 

familiar to every one. Few are so powerful in argument 
at any time, as when excited by combativeness. The 
exciting effect of the feelings upon the intellect produces 
a sort of mental illumination. The more feelings there 
are simultaneously active, the more intense and concen- 
trated is the light. 

The third influence of the feelings upon the intellect 
is, to warp and prejudice its perceptions and judgments. 
To pursue the figure. — Sometimes the light of several of 
the feelings becomes so intense and unequal, that the 
object is viewed under deceptive aspects. The several 
feelings, too, impart their own distinctive character to 
the intellectual perceptions and judgments. Reverence 
exerts a grave and magnifying influence. Cautiousness 
casts forth sombre shades. Hope puts on the high lights. 
Ideality beautifies, and marvellousness exerts a creative 
influence, finishing up the distant and obscure. As dif- 
ferent feelings exert different degrees of energy, and 
kinds of influence, at various times and under various 
circumstances, the mental states are constantly changing. 
Hence the perpetual succession of thoughts, day-dreams, 
and reveries. 



CHAPTER XV. 

FREE AGENCY — ACCOUNTABILITY — HABIT. 

I have above described briefly the leading influences 
of the intellect, and also of the affective faculties, in their 



FREE AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY HABIT. IGo 

action and reaction upon each other, and the force of 
external circumstances in modifying these influences. 
This makes a very suitable immediate introduction to an 
examination of the doctrine of Free Agency and Moral 
Accountability. We may now see how far these laws of 
activity and excitability of our faculties, as it regards 
thought and feeling merely, are consistent with free 
agency. Whenever we knowingly and deliberately con- 
template objects, which uniformly excite certain feelings, 
we do it voluntarily and in the exercise of free agency ; 
and we are accountable for the feelings thus excited. If 
we voluntarily call up lascivious thoughts by an effort of 
mind, we are accountable for the feelings excited. But 
if such images are thrust before the mind, without any 
agency on our part, then the thoughts and feelings ex- 
cited are produced by causes beyond ourselves, and for 
them we are not in the least accountable. So when 
strong propensities have been quiet and rested, until they 
seek exercise, and become spontaneously active, and ex- 
ert a debasing influence over the intellect, and we change 
these influences as soon as we can, and do not willingly 
indulge the thoughts suggested by them, we are not ac- 
countable. By fleeing from scenes of temptation, and 
by gratifying the propensities in harmony with the higher 
sentiments, or in other words reasonably and morally, we 
may avoid, to a great extent, sins of thought and feeling. 

But one point remains here to be noticed. Free 
agency concerns actions more than thoughts and feelings. 
It applies only to what is voluntary action, — what the 
mind consents to, and wills to be done. And we have 
seen that, in all the modes in which the feelings act upon 
the intellect, they may be gratified short of actions, — 



164 PHRENOLOGY. 

they may luxuriate and exhaust themselves in thought. 
Actions may not follow. The feelings, although more 
delightfully and suddenly gratified by action, are not irre- 
sistible in impelling us to act. There is between the de- 
sire and act an intellectual decision, and an exercise of 
volition or will. When strong feelings come over us, they 
produce an effect on the whole system, visible in the 
form of natural language. But this is not voluntary. 
The intellectual decision, which precedes all voluntary 
action, is formed in view of inducements. The balance of 
inducements constitutes what we term the motive. When 
the motive is seen, we are in a condition to move or act. 
The inquiry now is, how is motive formed 1 The con- 
stant action of the intellect, and of certain feelings for a 
long course of years, tends to fix settled habitudes of 
thought and feeling ; and certain principles of action are 
embraced, which produce an habitual and steady influence 
upon our actions. Men seldom become bad suddenly. 
They seldom commit crimes, until they have habituated 
their thoughts and feelings to criminal designs for a long 
time. Good characters are also formed in this slow, 
steady manner. Some, however, are naturally more in- 
clined to goodness than others, and in their habits of 
virtue are more easily fixed. In the formation of these 
habitudes, the physical organs are perfected, and improved, 
and made subject to certain physical laws, so that the head 
generally indicates externally the condition of the brain. 

We thus see how moral character is formed. Religious 
impressions are of the same steady, unperceived growth. 
In forming this character, our experience, the worldly 
influences around us, books, instructers, and friends, act 
upon our natural dispositions. These habitudes become 



FREE AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY HABIT. 1 65 

a part of ourselves, and have a much stronger influence 

on our thoughts and actions than any new or strong gust 

of feeling. So that we can predict with a good degree 

of certainty, how an individual, with whose habits we are 

acquainted, will act under given circumstances. We are 

undoubtedly accountable for our voluntary agency in 

forming these habitudes of thought and feeling. We are 

perhaps unconscious of these permanent influences, when 

they have a much stronger weight than any transient, 

fresh inducement. These habitudes grow more out of 

those feelings, which have a general regulating character, 

than out of others. Of these conscientiousness, firmness, 

cautiousness, and reverence are the principal. Now, as 

motive is the result of the balance of inducements, and as 

these inducements come principally from certain habits 

of mind, and as will acts subsequently to a decision of 

the intellect upon all the inducements, we see that we 

are not subject to the slavery of sudden desires, and " the 

strongest desire does not rule the action." When the 

feelings become deranged, and habitudes are broken, 

then moral liberty ceases and the strongest desire rules. 

Thus we are saved from this state, and made free agents 

by the force of a great variety in our desires, — by the 

conflict of feelings and the controlling weight of strong 

habitual feelings — and this controlling weight usually 

lies in the superiority of the higher sentiments. And in 

the power of balancing these, and in executing those 

things, which gratify the strongest amount of feeling, (as 

made up of those which are transient and those which are 

permanent,) consists all that I understand to be meant by 

free agency. 



166 PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

DEGREES OF MORAL LIBERTY FATALITY. 

But although we have this free agency or moral liberty 
of action, while we possess sane minds, yet this liberty is 
possessed in different degrees by different individuals, in 
consequence of influences beyond our control. No one 
could determine the hereditary tendencies of his nature, 
his complexion, his proportions, the century in which he 
shall live, or the thousands of influences to which all are 
subject, more or less, through life. In these things we 
are the victims, I will not say of fate, but of certain 
natural laws. These tend, in many respects, to modify 
the extent of our moral liberty. If we have inherited 
from our ancestors a loathsome and incurable disease, or 
if born blind, or deformed, these are misfortunes. So if 
a child be born of parents, in both of whom the propen- 
sities strongly predominated, possessing what may be 
termed ruffian heads, and have inherited the strong 
vicious tendencies of both parents in an aggravated de- 
gree, what shall we say of its moral liberty ? It is cer- 
tainly less than that of a Franklin, or a Washington, or 
a Marshall. But even in such a case, there is some 
freedom, and an accountability co-extensive. Some in- 
dividuals are so constituted, that they are not as likely to 
embrace religious truth as others. We know this to be 
true by observation. Still none are beyond the power of 
God, and the force of the great truths of religion is such, 
that when they are brought fully to bear upon those, who 



MORAL LIBERTY FATALITY. 167 

are the most unfavorably constituted to receive them, 
God oan make them effectual to change the heart. But 
ice cannot shape the circumstances, which may act upon 
us, so as to bring these truths to bear upon us as we 
please, and herein are we dependent, and cannot change 
our hearts by any direct efforts of our own. We can, 
however, use the means within our reach, and should look 
to God for results. We see great and permanent chan- 
ges wrought in character, expressed in the strong lan- 
guage of " regeneration." They may be sudden, but 
are more usually results of a long and gradual process. 
The change, so far as effects are apparent upon or- 
ganization and character, is that from a predominating 
influence of the propensities, in which discord and abuse 
are manifest, to that of a predominance of the senti- 
ments and intellect, — a state which produces harmony 
and obedience to both natural and divine law, and the 
intellect is led away from a predominating, habitual atten- 
tion to secular thoughts, to an habitual contemplation of 
religious subjects. Thus, so far from the doctrines of 
phrenology being inconsistent with free agency, they in 
fact enable us to comply with natural laws, in such a man- 
ner as to increase our natural liberty. The better we 
are acquainted with these natural laws, and the more 
strictly we comply with their conditions, the more free- 
dom we shall possess. 

Since writing the above, I noticed the sentiments of 
Dr. Franklin, which bear on the above subject. It is 
evident that he did not believe that all men had equal 
moral liberty. At the same time he would admit the 
full resistant power of habitude, as a check to the force 
of sudden impulses. Had he lived in the days of Gall, 



168 PHRENOLOGY. 

he could not have failed to adopt the principles of Phre- 
nology. In a letter written to T. Paine, dissuading him 
from publishing his Age of Reason, he remarks, " I will 
not enter into a discussion of your principles, though you 
seem to desire it. At present I shall only give my opin- 
ion, that, though your reasonings are subtile, and may 
perhaps prevail with some readers, you will not succeed 
so as to change the general sentiments of mankind on 
this subject ; and the consequence of printing this piece 
will be a great deal of odium drawn upon yourself, mis- 
chief to you, and no benefit to others. He that spits 
against the wind spits in his own face. But were you to 
succeed, do you imagine any good will be done by it ? 
You yourself may find it easy to live a virtuous life, 
without the assistance afforded by religion. You Tmve a 
clear perception of the advantages of virtue, and the dis- 
advantages of vice, and possess a strength of resolution 
sufficient to enable you to resist common temptation. [A 
phrenologist would have said to Paine, you have a head 
in which intellect and the sentiments prevail over the 
propensities.] But think how great a proportion of man- 
kind consist of weak and ignorant men and women, and 
inexperienced and inconsiderate youth of both sexes. 
We have need of the motives of religion to restrain them 
from vice, to support their virtue, and retain them in the 
practice of it, till it becomes habitual, which is the great 
point for its security. And perhaps you are indebted 
originally to your religious education for the habits of 
virtue, upon which you now justly value yourself. If 
men are so wicked with religion, what would they be 
without it ? " The quotation above was not recollected 
by me, when writing the preceding pages, although I re- 
collect now to have read it when a boy. 



ATTENTION. 



169 



A man who has been religiously educated, and has 
believed in religion until his habits are formed, is in much 
less danger from throwing off their restraints, so far as 
this life is concerned, than one who has never been a 
believer. When the character is formed by force of habit, 
and the parts are cemented, the bands may be burst with 
less danger. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ATTENTION. 



Mental philosophers have spoken of Attention as a 
distinct power of the mind. From the view Phrenolo- 
gists have taken of mental manifestations, attention means 
simply an active state of any intellectual faculty, or of 
several at the same time. To attend to any subject is to 
put into action the intellectual faculties upon that sub- 
ject. It is common language to inquire, What are you 
attending to now? It means the same as if the expres- 
sion had been, Upon what have your intellectual faculties 
been engaged? From the views taken of the influence 
of the affective faculties upon the intellect, in chapter 
XII. we are prepared to deduce the laws of attention. 

1st. If a subject furnish an agreeable exercise to a 
|large intellectual organ, or a class of large intellectual 
organs, it will be easy to give it a due share of attention. 
|A person with a large organ of tune attends to music 
15 



170 PHRENOLOGY. 

with ease and pleasure. A person with a large, active 
organ of number attends readily and exclusively to arith- 
metical operations. 

2d. When any subject is highly interesting to our feel- 
ings, they will excite the intellect to the subject. It is 
easy to think of an absent friend. When reverence is 
large and active, it is easy to join in prayer, &,c. 

3d. The degree in which our attention will be excited 
will depend upon the state of the organs, the number of 
large intellectual organs to which the subject gives an 
agreeable exercise, the number of strong feelings it grati- 
fies, and the intensity of that gratification. 

Thus, if our faculties be perfectly refreshed, as in the 
morning when we are in good health, all the faculties 
seem in a state of spontaneity, eager for gratification, and 
at such a time almost any subject will possess an interest. 
It should therefore be a rule to take up the least interest- 
ing subject then. When we have toiled through the day 
and become exhausted, scarcely any subject has an inter- 
est. You will find it difficult to influence a man to give 
you any attention to an article you would sell him late in 
the day. The morning is the time for business. So 
when one is in ill health, it often produces mental dis- 
traction. When a subject excites into action all the 
large intellectual organs, addressing itself strongly both 
to the perceptive and reflective faculties, the attention 
will be very strongly fixed, because all the organs act in 
harmony. 

So when a subject excites several strong feelings, the 
attention will be easily secured. Present to the devout 
man the subject of religion, exciting as it is to all the 
higher sentiments, and you easily arouse his attention, 
to a great degree of intensity. 



PERCEPTION, CONCEPTION, IMAGINATION. 171 

Students, who can be masters of their time and at 
tion, will lind their advantage in commencing in the 
morning with those studies which are the least interest- 
ing, and finishing with those which are the most so ; and 
after study is over, to attend to literature, society, and 
amusements, for the purpose of exercising the feelings, 
and at the same time giving a new impetus to the intel- 
lect. A 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



PERCEPTION, CONCEPTION, AND IMAGINATION. 

Perception is not a distinct faculty, but indicates that 
the intellectual faculties are assisted and stimulated to 
action by certain external helps. Objects of sense are 
perceived by the intellectual organs, through the agency 
and stimulus of the senses. So if objects are described, 
by drawings, writings, or conversation, they will be per- 
ceived by the mind. When the steps of an argument 
are stated to me, I am assisted to perceive the relation of 
one step to another. But conception is an unassisted act 
of the mind upon its own materials. The degree of 
activity into which the mind may be excited will depend 
upon the interest of the subject. The mind may be more 
intensely agitated by its perceptions, than it would be in 
its own calm, spontaneous activity. 



172 PHRENOLOGY. 

Perceptions may range from the faintest glimmerings 
up to the most intense glow. Hence a certain degree of 
perceptive power may be possessed by organs, which are 
too feeble for the spontaneity of conception. Many per- 
sons can merely perceive the difference in two colors side 
by side, but could not tell the difference if they saw them 
in different places, as in doing this they would be obliged 
to conceive the absent color, to compare it with the 
present. 

Reflection seems to import that spontaneous activity of 
the higher intellectual organs, which is identical with 
conception, when applied to these organs. We may say 
with propriety that an argument is well conceived. We 
often say, upon reflection we conceive a thing to be so or 
so. Mr. Combe defines perception, as " the lowest degree 
of activity of the intellectual faculties excited by an ex- 
ternal object, and conception, as a higher degree of ac- 
tivity depending on internal causes, and without the 
interference of external objects." To make perception 
depend on degree of activity, seems to me to be unphilo- 
sophical, because the degrees of activity are infinite; 
and I apprehend that the organs may be more intensely 
active in perception, than they sometimes are in concep- 
tion. Others will decide which is right. 

Imagination differs from conception in this, — that by 
the term conception we do not imply the formation of 
new combinations, but simply contemplate former con- 
ceptions or perceptions. But in an effort of imagination 
we make new formations and combinations, with refer- 
ence to a definite purpose. It therefore implies the 
leading exercise of the comparing power, in reference to 
propriety and effect. Imagination requires the activity of 



MEMORY. 173 

the perceptive organs generally, and also of causal it) 
and comparison ; and the beauty of its creations will 
depend much upon the well regulated activity of ideality, 
which gives us delight in the beautiful. Fancy may be 
considered as synonymous with imagination. I see no 
good ground for the distinction made by Mr. Combe. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



MEMORY. 



We have already spoken of perception, conception, 
and imagination, as modes of activity of the intellectual 
faculties. It remains to consider another mode of men- 
tal exercise, denominated memory. To constitute this, 
requires the reappearance of former perceptions, con- 
ceptions, or imaginings, in connexion with a perception 
of their relation to a past intellectual exercise. This act 
of the mind requires no new faculty, but is simply a func- 
tion of all the faculties. The only point, by which it is 
distinguishable from other intellectual exercises, is that 
it is not the first time they have occupied the mind, and 
the mind perceives this fact in connexion with the things 
remembered. Sometimes the recollection is so distinct, 
that it is connected with a particular period. 

As organs, which are small and feeble in their func- 
tions, will not perceive or conceive with clearness, so they 
15* 



174 



PHRENOLOGY, 



will manifest a feebleness in performing the function of 
memory. All their operations will be characterized by 
inefficiency. In perceptions, the want of power in the 
feeble organs is less apparent, because they are stimu- 
lated and assisted ; but in memory their power is more 
distinctly tested. Hence we hear great complaint of 
poor memory, but none of poor powers of perception or 
conception. But one of the reasons, why a person does 
not remember his past perceptions, is that they were not 
clear and strong. There is feebleness in the functional 
power of the organs concerned. 

Dr. Spurzheim was of opinion, that memory takes 
place among the affective as well as intellectual faculties. 
"It is true/ 5 says he, " the affective powers act without 
clear consciousness, and the mind cannot bring into fresh 
existence the perceptions experienced from the propen- 
sities and sentiments, with the same facility as the per- 
ceptions of the intellectual powers ; yet it renews them 
more or less, and consequently I cannot confine the 
mode of action under discussion to the intellectual facul- 
ties. However, I distinguish between the faculties 
which have clear memory, and the species of notions 
remembered ; the perceptive faculties alone have clear 
memory, and all kinds of perceptions are remembered." 
Mr. G. Combe is of a different opinion, and confines 
memory to the intellectual faculties alone. I think the 
matter will appear clear, when we recollect that it is the 
function of eventuality, to perceive or take cognizance 
of the feelings of the affective faculties, and to remember 
them afterwards. If so, it would seem that eventuality 
does what Dr. S. ascribes to the affective faculties. This 
at least is my view of the subject. It does not appear 



MEMORY. 175 

that memory can be predicated of a faculty, which does 
not form ideas. 

In the act of remembering, there is a combined and 
associated activity of many of the intellectual faculties, 
so close, indeed, that metaphysicians of the old school 
have mistaken their joint and associated action, for the 
work of a distinct faculty. Yet they could not explain 
why a man has an excellent memory for one class of 
ideas, and a very deficient one for another. If mem- 
ory were a distinct faculty, its power would be uniform. 

From observations upon the principles of associated 
action of the faculties, we are not only able to explain 
many facts, but also to arrive at certain rules for the 
conduct of the faculties on this point. 

1. Most of the objects to be remembered require the 
activity of a large number of the intellectual faculties. 
If we remember an individual, it is usually by the greater 
or less activity of individuality, eventuality, configuration, 
size, weight, and resistance, color, locality, and language. 
If we recollect when we had known him, time and num- 
ber are also called in aid. Those organs which are 
largest and most active will assist most in this effort. If 
the organ of configuration be large and active, the char- 
acteristic form of his person and features will be recalled 
most readily. If locality be large, he will rush upon the 
recollection in connexion with the place where he had 
been seen. If eventuality be large, he will be remem- 
bered in connexion with an event with which he is asso- 
ciated. Hence we have a clue to the formation of an 
artificial memory which will be suited to our organization. 
It should be formed upon the large organs. If eventual- 
ity be large, let every thing to be remembered be strongly 



176 PHRENOLOGY. 

associated in the mind with an event. If locality be 
large, let your fastenings be upon some place, &,c. 

2. It is a great point in relation to memory, that, in 
the original perception or conception, we view it in all its 
aspects and relations clearly ; that we fasten the subject 
upon the mind by all the cords ; that all our ideas may 
be well denned, distinct, and vivid. 

3. If you rely upon calling any thing to mind at a par- 
ticular time and place, fix all the conceptions in the mind 
in connexion with that time and place. When the time 
and place are present, they come to the mind as percep- 
tions, and these perceptions suggest the subjects to be 
recollected in connexion with them. 

4. We have seen in another place, p. 162, that the feel- 
ings have a strong influence upon our trains of thought, 
and the degree of intensity with which we think. This 
principle gives us a clue to some of the phenomena of 
memory. Whatever interests our feelings strongly, will 
be strongly perceived or conceived, and also readily 
remembered. The mind will be much more concen- 
trated and powerful. Hence, if we would profit by any 
studies or inquiries, or make any progress in them, we 
should become interested in them. They should strongly 
excite some very powerful sestiments. Reverence and 
wonder especially should be active ; and we should also 
feel attached to the person who instructs. Ambition and 
a sense of duty should also be active. We know the fact, 
that any subject intensely interesting to the feelings is 
remembered without difficulty. 

5. Another, and very strong principle in connexion 
with memory is this, that we not only call up the whole 
scene, with which the thing to be remembered is con- 



MEMORY. 177 

nected ; but endeavour that we be as nearly as possible in 
the same moods of feeling, and with the same intellectual 
faculties active, as when the scenes to be remembered 
occurred. I have often felt the force of this, by revisit- 
ing the place of a former residence, with all the inhabit- 
ants, and reviving the neighbourhood stories and recol- 
lections. By so doing I have resumed the feelings, 
thoughts, and indeed the peculiar mental individuality, 
which I possessed when a resident of the place. The 
scenes of the intervening period seemed to have vanished. 
Under such a state of feeling, the intermediate period 
will have lost all its effect, in obliterating the images of 
the time to which I am thus carried back. 

The stronger the impressions of this period were, com- 
pared with the impressions of more recent date, the more 
easily we can slide back to it, and seem for the time to 
identify ourselves with it. 

The impressions, made at the early period of life, 
and during the greatest vigor of the faculties, will be the 
strongest, so that old people find it easy to go back in 
feeling and identity with these early periods ; and under 
such states they will recollect with great clearness all 
that then happened, while more recent events will not 
be recalled. We know that this is a striking fact in 
relation to old people, and this accounts for it in a man- 
ner more satisfactory to my mind, than any other expla- 
nation I have seen. 

The necessity of bringing all our feelings and faculties 
into a state, approaching as nearly as possible to identity 
with that of the time when events happened, in order to 
be able to recall them, will be rendered very apparent by 
some facts, which have occurred to individuals in parox- 



178 PHRENOLOGY. 

ysms of somnambulism. I will state some particulars 
which occurred about two years since, in the case of 
Jane C. Rider, known as the Springfield somnambulist. 
In the paroxysms, which generally came upon her while 
asleep, she would go about house, attend to cookery 
and all her domestic duties, and would take no notice of 
those around her, unless they stood, or placed chairs in 
her way. She would sometimes sing, — repeat poetry, 
write, and read, and even learned the game of back- 
gammon. She heard, felt, and saw, during her parox- 
ysms. Her natural disposition was mild and amiable ; 
but in the paroxysms she was commonly peevish and irri- 
table, and used frequently to say, " she was cross, and 
meant to be cross. " At times she answered questions 
that were proposed, to test her power of vision. When 
in health, her movements were generally slow, but in her 
paroxysms she moved with astonishing rapidity, and ac- 
complished whatever she attempted with great celerity. 
This quickness also characterized her mental operations. 
She comprehended at a glance whatever was presented to 
her, seemingly without having bestowed a moment's at- 
tention. Her perceptions, as to the place where she was, 
were generally correct; those relative to time, generally 
inaccurate. She almost invariably supposed it was day. 
When asked to go to bed, she would say, " What, go to 
bed in the day-time ! " She was sometimes mistaken as 
to place, imagining herself in Brattleborough, when in 
Springfield, and when in Worcester, conceiving herself 
in Springfield. In the early stages of her complaint she 
appeared to take but little notice of persons, unless they 
were connected with the ideal scene passing in her mind, 
and then she regarded those with her, only as the rep- 



MEMORY. 179 

rcscntativcs of the persons whom she imagined to be 
present. 

At the termination of her paroxysms she sunk into a 
profound sleep. The frown disappeared from her brow, 
the respirations again became long and deep. Then in 
the course of fifteen or twenty minutes, she would open 
her eyes, and recollection was at once restored. She 
then invariably reverted to the time and place, at which the 
attack commenced, and in no instance manifested any 
knowledge of the time which transpired during the interval. 
In one paroxysm she remembered events that took place 
in another, though there was no remembrance of them in 
the interval. The physician who reported her case, says, 
almost every day furnished examples of this phenomenon. 
In the case quoted by Mr. G. Combe, in his System of 
Phrenology, p. 487, the facts are strikingly similar to 
those of the above, so far as it regards the phenomenon 
of memory. In this case, he says, the circumstances 
which occurred during the paroxysms were completely for- 
gotten by her, when the paroxysms were over, but were per- 
fectly remembered during subsequent paroxysms. In these 
cases, all the mental operations, which occurred during 
the paroxysms, were so different in degree, combination, 
and manifestation, from those of the ordinary state, that 
they were, to all purposes, the mental manifestations of 
another mind. The higher activity of the morbid state 
could avail itself of ideas common to both states; but the 
lower activity of the ordinary and rational state, had 
nothing sufficiently exalted or sufficiently like the other, 
to furnish any clue to the recollection of one from the 
exercises of the other. I have given my views of the 
above, as appearing to explain a great principle in rela- 



180 PHRENOLOGY. 

tion to memory, as well as to elucidate what is some- 
times called double consciousness, divided consciousness, or 
double personality \ In the case of Jane C. Rider, there 
was a great difference in her feelings, her movements, her 
mental activity, and in the combination of organs in 
exercise. Some of the faculties were in the highest state 
of exaltation, and others in a state of torpor. The com- 
bination active, constituted her peculiar individuality or 
state of being. The manifestations under this state were 
so different in all respects, that nothing which happened 
in her ordinary states, tended in the least to suggest 
them. And this arises from the difference in the two 
mental states, and not from the actual difference in the 
circumstances around her. Hence she could have no 
remembrance of those states. A person in one place, 
and under one set of influences, appears to himself so 
different from what he does under opposite influences, 
that he hardly recognises his own identity, and at such 
times he will find it difficult to remember the things con- 
nected with former and opposite conditions. 



CHAPTER XX. 



JUDGMENT. 



If Judgment be considered as a power of comparing 
the qualities and relations of individual objects, it is 



JUDGMENT. 181 

simply a function of all the intellectual faculties, like per- 
ception, conception, and memory. Thus we judge of 
form, magnitude, color, cause, effect, resemblances, an- 
alogies, and differences of objects, by means of the 
functional power of the appropriate faculties. From 
this view of the subject, we see that judgment is not a 
fundamental faculty, but a mere function of all the intel- 
lectual faculties ; and its power in a given case will depend 
on the degree of energy, which the faculty in exercise 
possesses. But judgment, in its more appropriate sense, 
has a very comprehensive signification, and an extensive 
bearing upon mental manifestation and character in gen- 
eral. While few possess this trait of character to a high 
degree, the great mass of the community are very defi- 
cient in it. There are very few who can so far depend 
upon their powers of analysis, as to investigate a compli- 
cated subject at all points, and arrive at conclusions which 
may be safely relied upon, as the basis of important 
undertakings, or the adjustment of important interests. 
A few master spirits of this character are to be found in 
every age, to shed their light upon their country and 
posterity. The influence of such men is felt in all situa- 
tions, whether as private citizens, philosophers, counsel- 
lors, judges, or rulers. If we were asked what above 
every other quality characterized Washington, Franklin, 
and Marshall, we would say judgment. This enabled 
them to discover the truth, and to apply it with practical 
ability and strong common sense. 

The inquiry which it now concerns us to make is, — 
What are the ingredients which go to make up, what we 
thus denominate, superior judgment ? 
16 



182 PHRENOLOGY. 

1. It is believed that the leading intellectual organ 
concerned is that of comparison. This organ has the 
most enlarged functional power of all the intellectual or- 
gans. While the perceptive organs are confined to their 
own objects and relations, this compares things of the 
most opposite kinds, and looks through the whole range 
of nature. It can compare color to sound, or an object 
of sense to a feeling of the mind. It draws analogies, 
discovers resemblances, and detects differences. It ab- 
stracts parts or comprehends a whole. It has all the se- 
verity of truth, and all the playfulness of poetry. It 
enriches the poet with figures, and the mathematician 
with the perception of proportions. Without a good 
share of this faculty, no man can aspire to be a discov- 
erer in science, or claim to possess a true philosophical 
mind. If alone, it does not always secure the character 
for sound judgment ; I have never seen sound judgment 
where this is wanting. 

2. As comparison acts upon materials furnished by 
the other intellectual faculties, these must be well bal- 
anced and active, or the materials thus furnished will 
not be well prepared. If, for instance, there be general 
deficiency in the perceptive organs, and as a consequence 
deficient power of observation, the data on which com- 
parison must act will be deficient. So if causality be 
small, then the relation of cause and effect, and other in- 
nate relations recognised by this organ, will be over- 
looked. Therefore judgment will be incorrect in results, 
however justly drawn from the materials on which it has 
acted, 

3. We have seen in another place, that when some of 
the feelings are strong and others feeble, the light they 



JUDGMENT. 183 

throw upon the intellect will be unequal, and with it there 
follows an unequal and defective perception of objects. 
Hence the judgments, formed under the influence of 
some strong, and other feeble, feelings, will partake of 
error. The intellect should always hold a decided pre- 
dominance. This is much less so than could be desired. 
Most of the world are more or less slaves to some strong 
passion. Carried to an extreme, it becomes monomania. 

To be wanting in those feelings, which belong to a sub- 
ject, is as much a source of false judgment as an over 
endowment of them. A juror, who has little approba- 
tiveness, will never estimate adequately the injury in- 
flicted upon character. One who has small philoprogeni- 
tiveness, will never correctly appreciate a father's feeling, 
when lacerated by the seduction of a favorite daughter. 
There should be, indeed, a fine logic among the feelings, 
which, when preserved, gives almost an instinctive per- 
ception, and love of truth, in the common concerns of 
life. This balance is acquired and maintained by atten- 
tion to the proper culture and regulation of all the facul- 
ties, and especially of conscientiousness and the moral 
sentiments generally. So that there is an intimate con- 
nexion between sound judgment, and sound principles, 
between a just and a judicious man. He that violates 
his conscientiousness darkens his intellect to the percep- 
tion of truth. 

5. But without cool and patient habits of investigation, 
the best balanced intellect and feelings will not save us 
from erroneous judgments. We should secure all the 
evidence the nature of the case admits of, and should 
reject all which is irrelevant to the case in question. 
Some persons seem to pride themselves upon a violation 



184 PHRENOLOGY. 

of these most obvious and reasonable rules, and form 
judgments without apparent examination or reflection. 
This too often characterizes physicians, lawyers, and 
judges, men who of all others are most responsible to 
their fellow-citizens for the judgments they may form. 
Wit comes in flashes, poetic fancy loves the freshness 
and far seen, unreal resemblances of marvellousness. 
But judgment is cool, collected, sober, steady, hard work- 
ing, and german to common sense. 

The above view of our subject shows, that sound judg- 
ment depends upon the predominating activity of com- 
parison,- — a well balanced intellectual and affective 
organization in general, and a due degree ef information 
and reflection upon the subject on which a judgment is 
to be formed. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



TASTE. 



The view already taken of Judgment prepares us for 
a correct conception of Taste, or in other words, it ena- 
bles us to give a phrenological analysis of what is implied, 
when we say of a person that he has a good or bad 
taste. Taste, then, implies the exercise of judgment as 
to the effect, which any object of nature or art has upon 
our perceptive and affective faculties, as it regards the 
sublime and beautiful. In order that a person should 
possess good taste on any subject, the following particu- 
lars should concur. 



TASTE. 185 

1. Large cofnparison. This is necessary in order that 
we may compare the impressions made by one object with 
those made by another upon our feelings ; and that we 
may see how all the particular parts and ingredients 
contribute towards giving an effect to the whole. Com- 
parison being thus active, taste will be improved, as this 
faculty is increased in power and activity by experience. 

2. The other intellectual faculties should also be ac- 
tive, that all the parts, qualities, and relations of objects. 
may be distinctly perceived and attended to. If form 
be deficient, we shall overlook any defect in the form of 
the object. If color be inactive, we shall not discover 
either the beauties or defects of coloring. If locality be 
wanting, we shall disregard the relations of position. If 
causality be deficient, we shall not readily discover the 
relation between certain forms, colors, and positions, 
their indications of significance, fitness, utility, or study 
the mental emotions which usually accompany them, 

3. It is not only necessary to have an intellect which 
can perceive, but there must be a sense of the beautiful 
and the grand, which spring principally from ideality and 
reverence. Ideality seems to be excited by the percep- 
tion of the harmonious combination of every part in rela- 
tion to the whole. As for instance, in looking at a 
human countenance, we are delighted by that harmonious 
combination, which arises from the union of appropriate 
color, form, and expression, with the character, age, and 
condition of the person. 

4. But good taste also requires that harmonious exer- 
cise of the affective faculties in general, which is consis- 
tent with the predominance of the higher sentiments ; 
and which will also keep each feeling so far active, as to 

16* 



186 PHRENOLOGY. 

relish only a due degree of stimulus addressed to it. 
With large amativeness, combativeness, destructiveness, 
or self-esteem, an individual will be in danger of offend- 
ing against good taste, by the manifestations of these 
feelings too strongly and frequently. So, with a defi- 
ciency in any feelings, a person will be in danger of com- 
mitting offences against taste, by a disregard of them in 
others, and in an over manifestation of the opposite feel- 
ings. Thus, where benevolence is deficient, the person 
will be blind to the beauty, which that emotion sheds 
over one's countenance or writings ; and also he will mar 
the beauty of whatever he does or says, by manifestations 
of a preponderating selfishness. I might here add that 
susceptibility to the pleasures of taste, and delicacy of 
taste in the fine arts, will depend much upon a fine ner- 
vous and sanguine temperament. 

Were we to go into an examination of the adaptation 
of the objects of nature and art to give exercise and 
pleasure to taste, it would require a volume. This, too, 
would be exceedingly difficult, as that which gratifies 
taste is often the result of the harmonious and compli- 
cated combination of parts in reference to a whole ; and 
that whole is constructed for some purpose of utility, and 
adds to it the beauty of design, fitness, wisdom, and good- 
ness. In studying the sublimity and beauty of nature, 
we but study the power, wisdom, and goodness of God. 
In studying the handy work of his creatures, we again 
see but imitations of him who created, at the same time 
that we look at the works of the creature. 

Before we leave this interesting subject, we will observe 
that tastes will differ in different individuals, to the same 
extent that their judgments will be found to differ; and 



SYMPATHY. 187 

differences in organization and external influences lay 
the foundation for these differences. There is, indeed, 
no universal unvarying standard of taste. Nor does its 
gratification depend upon any particular uniform confor- 
mation or quality of matter. It is rather dependent upon 
the degree, in which any formation or quality of matter 
gives agreeable exercise to the mental faculties. 

Those whose organizations are the most unequal will 
be most likely to offend against taste. But the greatest 
offences will be committed where comparison is very 
deficient. If ideality be small, and the organization in 
other respects be equal, there may be no great offences 
against taste, but every thing, which comes from the 
hands of such persons, will be characterized by plainness 
and destitution of ornament. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



SYMPATHY. 



Men, in their social state, are connected by the ties of 
neighbourhood, business, politics, friendship, kindred, and 
religious faith. In our intercourse with the world, we 
meet with some who are agreeable, but more who are 
disagreeable, and even repulsive. To the few we cling, 
and to the many we manifest a kindness and friendship, 
which springs more from interest, pacific feelings, or 
charity, than from fellow-feeling and congeniality. 



188 PHRENOLOGY. 

There are attractions and repulsions in physics ; among 
vegetables, some are said to perish in the neighbourhood 
of certain others ; among the lower animals the same 
law prevails. 

The question occurs, Why is this so? Let us recur to 
fundamental principles. It will be recollected that some 
of the faculties are social, and that others are anti-social. 
The intellectual faculties are eminently social. We like 
to engage in the same studies and pursuits of others 
around us. Hence science flourishes best in society. 

The higher sentiments are social, and persons, in whom 
these predominate, are pleased with the society of each 
other, so far as these faculties are concerned. Appro- 
bativeness is selfish, yet not anti-social. A person, in 
whom self-esteem is large, associates agreeably with 
another, in whom the same feeling is small, and reverence 
is large ; but meets the manifestations of large self-esteem 
in another with coldness and distance. Amativeness and 
adhesiveness are social, and sympathize readily. The 
other propensities in general are anti-social and selfish. 

Taste implies the exercise of judgment upon the sub- 
lime and beautiful in nature and art, but Sympathy be- 
longs only to our feelings towards others, not merely in 
reference to beauty or sublimity, but to the degree in 
which the faculties of the one find agreeable exercise 
in the society of the other. And this is so exclusively a 
matter of feeling, that the judgment can hardly be said 
to take a part in it. This discloses to us the principle on 
which sympathy is founded. In order that two persons 
shall feel sympathy or congeniality in each other's society, 
they shall be so constituted, that each excites in the 
other pleasurably the social feelings, without opposing 



SYMPATHY. 189 

the dissocial and selfish. Hence there is no invariable 
combination on which sympathy depends. The organiza- 
tion of both must be fitted, — the one to that of the other. 

The natural language of the feelings acts directly on 
those to whom it is addressed, so that the principles of 
repulsion and attraction are instantly known whenever 
two individuals meet. Thus, when we meet with a per- 
son, whose countenance expresses cordiality, kindness, 
and candor, (which are the natural language of adhesive- 
ness, benevolence, and conscientiousness,) the same 
emotions are agreeably excited and gratified in ourselves, 
and we naturally return his advances with corresponding 
emotions. A conscientious, respectful, frank, and be- 
nevolent man, carries in his countenance a power, which 
calls into the expression of all he meets whatever they 
may possess of the same principles. It operates like a 
mysterious wand, to drive back the cold deformity of 
selfishness, and to bring to the surface heaven-born be- 
nevolence and honesty. 

This power will be more readily recognised in the 
public speaker, than in any other person. A frank, 
benevolent, honest man, who loves the truth, and has the 
power to grasp and courage to declare it, holds a power 
over our sympathies and our convictions, which we have 
no wish to diminish. 



190 PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

DEFINITIONS. 

One of the great objects, to be accomplished by phre- 
nology, is to accustom the students to analyze and to re- 
duce compounds to their simple elements ; in short to 
induce people to think phrenologically. You will inquire 
how this is done ? I answer, define all words which are 
descriptive of intellectual and moral states phrenologi- 
cally. Below I give a few examples. 

Ambition. — This is a compound feeling, arising from 
the great activity of approbativeness, self-esteem, and 
hope, and the intellect directed to things of importance. 

Anger. — A violent excitement of destructiveness, in- 
clining one to revenge. 

Audacity. — The effect of large self-esteem, firmness, 
and courage, combined with small reverence and cau- 
tiousness. 

Conscience. — This implies a combination. A person's 
conscience will depend upon the following particulars. 

1. The activity of the sentiment of conscientiousness. 
If this be inactive, a person may have policy but no sense 
of right and wrong. 

2. Conscience will depend on the modifying influences 
of the affective faculties in general. Predominating ac- 
quisitiveness would produce a dangerous effect upon large 
conscientiousness, where they could not act in harmony, 
and so with all the propensities. 



DEFINITIONS. 191 

3. A person's conscience will depend much upon the 
state of the intellectual faculties. When causality and 
comparison are small, a person may be easily deceived, 
as to what would be right in a given case. Hence his 
conscience might be agreeable to common notions of 
right, but contrary to absolute conscience. 

4. Conscience depends much upon the general habits, 
education, and influences with which a person is sur- 
rounded. I should not expect the same notions of right 
and wrong would govern a professed petty chapman and 
a chancellor. There is among men of different secular 
pursuits a sort of conventional conscience, made up of a 
class of questionable maxims, and tolerated by the mys- 
teries of every trade, which is somewhere defined as a 
coarse-bred, vulgar honesty, but which will be found to 
partake more of the morality of the propensities than of 
the sentiments. 

Constancy. — This will be likely to characterize one 
who has large firmness, conscientiousness, and compari- 
son, with no other faculties remarkably strong. 

Contempt. — A disagreeable affection of self-esteem, 
produced by a real or supposed insult from an inferior, or 
from various other causes. 

Cruelty. — A manifestation of the abuse of destruc- 
tiveness 

Despair. — A state of feelings produced by large 
cautiousness and reverence, with small hope and self- 
esteem, acting with a highly bilious temperament and 
unfavorable external circumstances. 

Diffidence. — An effect of large cautiousness and rev- 
erence, with small self-esteem. There is a sort of diffi- 
dence experienced by those who have large self-esteem, 



192 PHRENOLOGY. 

when they are in situations where they cannot appear to 
advantage. 

Doubt. — The effect of large opposing affective facul- 
ties, as hope and cautiousness large, acting upon a more 
active causality than comparison. 

Duty. — The sense of obligation which proceeds from 
the decisions of conscience. 

Grief. — A state of dissatisfaction of any fundamental 
faculty. 

Happiness. — Consists in the exercise and satisfaction 
of the fundamental faculties, acting in harmony with 
each other. Our happiness is made up of the sum of 
the harmonious satisfaction of the faculties. This will 
differ at different times, and one enjoys much more than 
another. Happiness therefore is only comparative. 

Haughtiness. — A manifestation of self-esteem in an 
undue degree, with moderate reverence. 

Honor. — A feeling based on love of approbation and 
self-esteem, but not on conscientiousness. We must be 
careful to distinguish between honor and honesty. 

Horror. — A strong feeling produced by a disagreeable 
affection of the higher sentiments in general, in conse- 
quence of the contemplation of something revolting to 
the senses. 

Indifference. — Small activity of the affective faculties 
in general. 

Indignation. — A disagreeable affection of approba- 
tiveness, self-esteem, and conscientiousness, with active 
combativeness and detructiveness. 

Joy. — An agreeable affection of the fundamental fac- 
ulties. 



DEFINITIONS. 193 

Melancholy. — A disagreeable affection of the feelings 
in general, with great activity of cautiousness, and with 
little activity of hope. 

Modesty* — A finely balanced state of all the affective 
faculties, except self-esteem and reverence, the latter of 
which being more active than the former. 

Pretension. — Great activity of self-esteem and love of 
approbation, with deficient intellect and resources to en- 
able performance. 

Regret. — A disagreeable affection of any of the fac- 
ulties, except conscientiousness, in view of past miscar- 
riage and lost advantages. 

Remorse. — A disagreeable affection of conscientious- 
ness in consequence of a violation of conscience. 

Shame. — A disagreeable affection of love of approba- 
tion, self-esteem, and conscientiousness. 

Sublime. — An emotion of ideality, reverence, and 
cautiousness, upon a perception of what manifests effec- 
tively the qualities of greatness, power, and wisdom 
combined, whether in nature or art. 

Ill-temper. — Ill-temper is a want of that due mixture 
which characterizes good temper, being the result of the 
frequent preponderating activity of destructiveness and 
combativeness over the higher sentiments and reflection ; 
these being large notwithstanding. When connected 
with a high sanguine and nervous temperament, it con- 
stitutes the distinguishing characteristic of the warm- 
hearted, or warm-tempered person. Such persons some- 
times become exceedingly troublesome to those whom 
they do not fear or respect, and can exercise their power 
over. A servant left a warm-hearted master on account 
of his temper. He was advised by a friend to return, 
17 



194 PHRENOLOGY. 

saying to him, your master's temper is no sooner on than 
it is off. This he granted, but replied it was no sooner 
off than it was on. 

Temptation. — The feeling experienced by the activity 
of any faculty, excited to act in a manner not sanctioned 
by conscience. 

Temper. — Temper, or, as it is sometimes called, good- 
temper or amiability, means such a due mixture of de- 
structiveness and combativeness with the antagonist 
principles of benevolence, reverence, conscientiousness, 
cautiousness, self-respect, and reflective faculties, as to 
secure to the latter at all times a due ascendency. 

Virtue. — A state, in which all the propensities are 
habitually in subordination to the enlightened and regu- 
lated activity of the higher sentiments and intellect. 

Wisdom. — To be wise requires an enlightened intel- 
lect, combined with the harmonious and well regulated 
influence of all the affective faculties, and acting by 
the dictates of strong judgment, in view of adequate 
information. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



ON THE QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY TO THE PRACTICAL 
APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF PHRENOLOGY. 

The views presented to the reader in the preceding 
pages are such, as the writer believes will be verified by 
an appeal to facts. They either result from his own 
observations, or the observations of others, in whose state- 



PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PHRENOLOGY 19") 

ments he has the fullest confidence. That the reader 
may test them for himself, and also gather new truths 
for his own benefit and the benefit of science, it is the 
sincere desire of the writer that he may resort to the 
same fountain. The degree of conviction arising from 
our own observations is far more satisfactory, than sec- 
ond hand relations of facts by others. We can repeat 
them under every variety of circumstances, and become 
satisfied that there has been no carelessness, and no at- 
tempt at deception. My object, in the subsequent part of 
this work, is to furnish such assistance as I may be able to 
do to the student of Phrenology, that he may go abroad 
fresh on the field of observation, and gather knowledge 
accurately for himself. 

"Were I ever so much disposed, I could not present 
those interesting facts, which constantly fall under the 
eye of an observer. Delicacy to individuals renders it 
improper. But when a person becomes acquainted with 
principles, and has acquired some little practice in obser- 
vation, facts will flow in upon him constantly. But before 
one goes about this process of observation, he should be 
possessed of such rules, as have been suggested by the 
good sense and experience of others. To the student of 
Phrenology I would respectfully say, therefore, that 

1st. You ought to know your own powers of observa- 
tion. If your perceptive organs are small, you will find 
it very difficult to collect facts with accuracy. You will 
not readily observe the different forms and sizes of heads, 
the locations of the organs, &c. If this be the case, you 
will be surprised often, that others make discoveries 
which escape your observation. Nevertheless, I would 
encourage you to persevere, and rather to regret your 



196 PHRENOLOGY. 

own deficiencies, than deny the existence of facts which 
others observe, but which escape your notice. The 
practice of observation will be of great use, as a mental 
discipline, and the organs will soon acquire sufficient 
strength to perform the functions required of them. 

If you have large perceptive and small reflective fac- 
ulties, you will find it comparatively easy to get facts, 
but will have great difficulty in arranging them and refer- 
ring them to general principles. Appearances will be no- 
ticed, but inferences will not be drawn from them readily 
and correctly. Persons thus constituted are exceed- 
ingly troubled to comprehend the doctrine of combinations. 
They are too ready to infer distinct traits of character 
from each separate organ, and when they do not at once 
discover the simple, direct, and clear manifestation of 
the principle, they conclude that the phrenological doc- 
trines cannot be true. Dr. A. Combe remarks, that " facts 
alone are not sufficient ; and unless they be collated, 
and their relations to each other and general laws be 
deduced by a careful induction, they lose the greater 
part of their value, and become little better, than the 
undigested erudition of an almanack-maker, and afford 
no means of judging of the truth or falsehood of a prin- 
ciple or rule of practice." Facts require constantly to 
be referred to principles. But principles again should 
only assist us to study each particular case, and not lead 
us to disregard qualifications, limitations, and peculi- 
arities. 

«' To observe accurately," says the last quoted author, 
" requires a degree of intelligence and acuteness, a free- 
dom from prejudice, and a patience of investigation, 
which can be found united only in a mind constantly 



PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PHRENOLOGY. 197 

alive to the influence of general laws, and ardent in the 
pursuit of every dilhculty and of every anomaly to their 
origin, in some previously unperceived condition, affect- 
ing the production of the expected result. So that if we 
take it for granted that he, who confines himself to simple 
observation, will be the most successful in the collection 
of trustworthy facts, and in the discovery of important 
natural truths, we shall infallibly fall into error. So 
prone, in fact, is the human mind to go back to princi- 
ples, that scarcely any thing can be perceived without 
some relation to general laws, or to some other better 
known phenomenon suggesting itself; and in this way 
the simplest narrative of a case almost always involves 
some theories ; and our modes of observation being thus 
insensibly affected by our previous views, it becomes a 
point of primary consequence that these should be 
correct." 

From these remarks we may see that careless thinkers, 
who have no supreme regard for truth, and no careful 
habits of observation, but with a mass of general unde- 
fined and incorrect principles floating in their minds, are 
unfitted to come into the field of phrenological observa- 
tion. They will neither understand what phrenologists 
have written, nor collect facts correctly for themselves. 
Nothing short of an entire revolution in their mental 
habits will serve to enable them to gather and apply the 
truths of mental science. To a mind, either incapable 
of deducing principles from analysis of facts, or careless 
in applying deductions made upon one state of facts to 
another, where the circumstances are not substantially 
similar, experience is useless and instruction unavail- 
ing. 

17* 



198 PHRENOLOGY. 

To succeed in gathering facts in support of phrenol- 
ogy requires an amount of mental power, equal at least to 
that which is necessary to success in one of the learned 
professions, a supreme regard for truth, and a mind so 
nearly balanced, as that there shall be no striking defi- 
ciency in either the perceptive or reflective powers. If 
beyond this one be highly gifted with both large reflective 
and perceptive organs, and have habits of observation 
upon character, and a general intelligence, he is fitted to 
commence the study with singular advantage to himself. 

It is not to be expected that men who have no taste for 
science, and no liberality of views, will give themselves 
to this great study. They must do in this branch of 
science as in others, — rely upon professional advisers for 
what little they may ever profit from it. 

Phrenology divides itself as naturally, as does the science 
of medicine, into two parts, viz. theory and practice. To 
these we add a third, viz. its application. It is compara- 
tively easy to read all that systems contain on the subject, 
and thence to write upon the subject with tolerable accu- 
racy. Those, who may be indisposed to take even this 
trouble, may hear read interesting lectures on the subject. 

But to read with care and thought, and to so under- 
stand as to apply the subject, is quite another affair. 
This reading must be connected with the practical appli- 
cation as you read. I will give the views of a writer in 
the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal on this point. Vol. 
8, p. 374. 

" To constitute an intelligent and trustworthy practi- 
cal Phrenologist, a long course of study and observation, 
as well as a natural capability of profiting by these, is 
indispensably requisite. He must have an intimate ac- 



PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PHRENOLOGY. 199 

quaintance with the cerebral developments of numerous 
individuals, and ample opportunity of observing the dis- 
positions and talents connected with each ; — he must be 
able to recognise with facility the degrees of development 
of the various organs, and also the temperament of the 
subject before him; — he must know accurately the 
functions of each organ, both individually and in combi- 
nation with others; — his stock of general information 
must be respectable, that he may understand the nature 
of the sciences and occupations to the pursuit of which 
the different faculties prompt ; — and he must render 
himself familiar with human nature in its various phases, 
by mixing extensively with men of different ranks and 
employments, and by a careful study of biography. 
Finally, such a degree of reflective power, as gives per- 
ception of motives, is necessary to the observer ; for it is 
a fact, revealed by phrenology, that persons, in whom the 
reflective faculties are weak, do not clearly perceive 
causation either in morals or in physics.'' 

The true method of studying Phrenology. 

Without observation connected with reading, no one 
will correctly understand what has been written, and 
without reading in connexion with observation, many 
facts will pass unobserved. Hence the true method of 
studying Phrenology is that of the simultaneous reading, 
observation, and refection. And taking it for granted 
that the adequate mental powers are possessed by the 
individual, we will endeavour to make some remarks to 
assist his observations, while imbuing his mind with the 
principles of the science. No one can accurately under- 
stand the great principles of the science, and be master 



200 PHRENOLOGY. 

of its profound philosophy, let him read all that ever has 
been written, unless he shall unite with his reading 
habits of observation. And no one can deserve a high 
reputation, as a correct and skilful practical phrenologist, 
until a knowledge of the philosophy of the science has 
been mastered. Without this practical knowledge, a man 
may be learned in other men's thoughts, and may im- 
prove and adorn them, and appear before the world as 
author, editor, or lecturer, to great advantage, but it does 
not follow that his knowledge stands the same chance 
for accuracy, as if collected at first ha?id, or that those, 
who have observed more and written less, are not conver- 
sant with the philosophy of the science. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



HOW PROOF OF THE SCIENCE IS TO BE OBTAINED. 

A distinction is to be made between the observation 
of facts, and the bringing before the public those facts in 
proof of the science. 

As to what facts may be brought before the public, 
Mr. George Combe has made the following correct re- 
marks. " Delicacy to individuals stands opposed to a 
public statement of many interesting cases in favor of the 
doctrines. It is on this account that phrenologists eagerly 
solicit those, who wish to ascertain the truth of the sys- 
tem, to examine nature for their own satisfaction. 

" Busts are sold which indicate the situations of the 
organs, and books which describe the functions, and no 



PROOF OF THE SCIENCE. 201 

one can have any diiliculty in finding proper subjects 
among individuals in his own circle, with whose talents 
and dispositions he is intimately acquainted." Mr. Combe 
then gives his reasons for the above. " The degree of 
conviction resulting from observation, when repeated on 
a great variety of individuals, and in every diversity of 
circumstances, far surpasses that which can be produced 
by perusal of the most minute and authentic details of 
cases observed by others. By contemplating phenomena 
as they actually exist, the mind forms a judgment con- 
cerning the real nature of their relation to each other, 
with a higher degree of satisfaction, than can be attained 
by merely reading descriptions of their appearance, and 
of the order in which they occurred. In the former case 
the inquirer satisfies himself by an examination of all the 
circumstances which he deems of importance, in the 
latter he is apt to doubt that some material fact may have 
been overlooked, which, if stated, would alter the whole 
import of the experiment. By selecting for observation 
persons intimately known to himself, the inquirer will 
enjoy the means of estimating the real nature and extent 
of the talents and dispositions possessed, — the actual 
appearance of the head, — the effects of health, educa- 
tion, and of a variety of circumstances, which he might 
imagine were not attended to in investigations conducted 
by others." He appeals to his own experience by observ- 
ing, " I have been permitted to examine the heads of 
several hundred persons, in different ranks of life, many 
of whom are well known by their talents as authors, 
preachers, public speakers, artists, &c." This was writ- 
ten more than ten years since, and he has continued to 
practise ever since ; so that now thousands might be sub-. 



202 PHRENOLOGY. 

stituted with propriety for hundreds. And to this course 
is he greatly indebted for his preeminent standing, as a 
practical phrenologist as well as philosopher. 

I am the more explicit in presenting the opinions of 
Mr. Combe on this subject, on account of a rule pro- 
mulgated in the Annals of Phrenology, in an article 
written by the Editor. It is this, Examine no heads of 
living individuals of respectable standing. Then he 
makes an exception of examinations of well marked heads, 
whenever it is evident that the science may be promoted by 
reporting them, ichether in favor of, or adverse to it. 
This would imply that the heads must be known to be 
well marked before they are examined ! And that science 
will be promoted by reporting them, whether in favor of 
or adverse to it ! This renders the reporting of cases 
co-extensive with examinations ! Mr. Combe seems to be 
of an opinion, that there would be a manifest impropriety 
in reporting any considerable portion of the cases, which 
would furnish strong proof in favor of the science. But 
I am disposed to attribute the peculiarity of the Editor's 
opinions purely to his great desire for the promotion of 
the science. 

Without limiting examinations, Mr. Combe limits very 
properly what cases may be publicly reported, in the 
following remarks. 

" The same restraints, however, do not oppose the 
publication of all cases bearing on the truth of Phrenol- 
ogy. When individuals have rendered themselves con- 
spicuous by their virtues or vices, by their talents or 
deficiences of understanding, and when casts of their 
heads have, by their own consent, been placed in the 
hands of the public, or been properly acquired, there 



EXAMINATION OF HEADS. 203 

appears to be no impropriety in discussing openly the 
correspondence, or discrepancy betwixt cerebral develop- 
ment, and the known manifestations of their minds. 
Again, where individuals have perished on the scafFold, 
and authentic casts of their heads or sculls have been 
taken, there can be no impropriety in discussing in the 
freest manner, the correspondence betwixt their mental 
manifestations and the development of their brains. It 
is, however, impracticable in any moderate bounds to 
bring forward the ichole, or even any great portion of the 
facts, which are familiarly known to those who make 
phrenology an object of serious study." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

EXAMINATION OF HEADS BY PROFESSED PHRENOLOGISTS. 

If learners may with propriety go directly to the facts 
as they exist in nature, where their acquaintance with 
the character of the individual will enable them to see 
the correspondence between development and mental 
manifestations, there can be no impropriety in availing 
themselves of the experience of skilful practical phrenolo- 
gists, in pointing their attention to the organs, and in 
explaining their bearing upon the characters. A higher 
motive, than mere curiosity, may induce a person to avail 
himself of the services of a practical phrenologist, in 
whom he may repose confidence in an examination of his 
own organology, temperament, &c. By so doing he may 
receive immediate proof of some of the leading truths 



204 PHRENOLOGY. 

of phrenology. He may also be assisted in the great 
study of self-acquaintance, — and learn how to prosecute 
effectually the study of the science, which unfolds to him 
the laws of his own physical, moral, and intellectual 
nature.* 

If a phrenologist of established reputation consent to 
give one, two, or more gentlemen a lecture at his own 
rooms, devoting time and labor, and connecting with such 
lecture a practical application to their own developments 
and character, I know of no reasonable ground of com- 
plaint. Instead of this, I think the cause of science 
promoted by it. So if gentlemen have children, whom 
they are about to educate or advise, in the selection of a 
profession, I know of no harm in calling professionally 
upon a Phrenologist. Mr. Deville, of London, has ex- 
amined heads in this way for years. Formerly, he re- 
ceived nothing for his services ; now he charges, I am 
told, a reasonable compensation. This saves him from 
importunity of those, who have but a mere idle curiosity 
to gratify, and enables him to attend to those, who would 
be benefited by the examination, without a sacrifice of 
his time and services. 

* Nothing is here said intending to justify practices, said to be 
adopted by some, by which this noble science is made instrumental 
to a system of legerdemain. There are men in all professions, who 
are regardless of their own character and public sentiment. Their 
career will be short. An enlightened community must apply the 
corrective. 



EXAMINATION OF HEADS. 205 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

FURTHER REMARKS UPON EXAMINATIONS. 

As some difference of opinion seems to exist among 
phrenologists in this country, as to the course which 
should be pursued in the practical applications of the 
science, by what the editor of the Annals terms exami- 
nation of heads, I think it desirable, if possible, to present 
the subject in its proper lights. 

In this place it is unnecessary to say that the business 
of travelling from place to place, opening shops, and ex- 
amining heads, unconnected with public or private lec- 
tures, can neither be approved by high-minded phrenolo- 
gists or an enlightened public ; and will therefore soon 
be put down by public sentiment. But I cannot agree 
with the editor of the Annals, that '• the most prevailing 
evil of the times is the practice of examining heads." 

Not an advance will ever be made in perfecting this 
new science, except it be by those who, like its founders, 
read its doctrines directly in the book of nature. Stop a 
resort to facts, as the ultimate standard, and you encour- 
age those who prefer the retirement of study to the 
pains-taking labor of observation, and metaphysical mys- 
teries to careful induction. Then we shall fall back 
into the slough of hypothesis, and there will be as many 
systems of phrenology, as there are now of mental phi- 
losophy, and the ultimate argument will be an appeal to 
great names, rather than to unvarying experiment. 

Among those who would learn by observation, as well 
as by reading, we must expect to witness more or less of 
18 



206 PHRENOLOGY. 

pretension, quackery, and misguided, but well meaning, 
enthusiasm. But in attempting to correct these, we should 
be extremely careful not to shut out the true method both 
of study, and of improving the science. Every good thing, 
which finds its way in the world, has to encounter the 
irregularity of human passions. There may be lecturers 
unqualified for their vocation. Lecturers, too, may 
sometimes appear to think too much of engrossing all 
attention at the expense of others. Publishers may oc- 
casionally, in their zeal for the dignity of the science, be 
thought to fix a price upon the standard works in the 
science, which keeps them beyond the reach of the intel- 
ligent reader of moderate means. But every science 
must make its way against embarrassments of this kind, 
and we have this consolation, that, while some injury is 
done, a great advance is really made by the exertions of 
those, who are not free from the common infirmities of 
human nature. 

Phrenologists will be very careful how far they bow 
to mere authority in relation to the doctrines of their 
science. But they may quote with propriety the opin- 
ions of distinguished phrenologists upon the best modes 
of pursuing the study of the science. We cannot doubt 
the opinion of Dr. Gall, when he is known to have given 
his life to the direct study of nature by observation. 
Persons were frequently brought to him as strangers for 
examination, — sculls were handed him in the midst of 
his lectures, on which he ventured his opinions ; and he 
suffered his skill to be tested in every form. 

Dr. Spurzheim was not less bold in his course ; on one 
occasion he even risked his skill upon the brain of a 
person wholly unknown to him before an audience. Mr. 



EXAMINATION OF HEADS. 207 

George Combe has been from the first a most indefati- 
gable examiner of heads. His boast is, that he has read 
his doctrines directly in the page of nature, and that 
what he asserts in point of fact, he has seen, and what 
he maintains in argument, he has found confirmed by 
experience. It is stated by the editor of the Edinburgh 
Phrenological Journal, (that storehouse of facts and prin- 
ciples,) that every one, who studies phrenology, should 
make observations for himself, and that he has found by 
experience, that it is the only means of studying it effec- 
tually. 

But it will be said that no objection is made to exami- 
nations, only that living individuals of respectable stand- 
ing should not be subjects of such examinations, unless 
they may have such well marked heads, as, if reported, 
they would promote the science. This is said by the 
editor of the Annals to have been Dr. Spurzheim's rule, 
and that he spoke J^^equently on the subject. This could 
not have been his rule of action for all places, for we 
know his life and writings contradict it. It could not 
have been a rule for others, because, had it been, he 
would have somewhere given it in his valuable works. 
But instead of this he gives very minute directions for 
the assistance of those who would study the science, and 
is entirely silent as to any limitation. 

The truth was, that reasons obvious to all induced 
Dr. Spurzheim, while in this country, to decline all re- 
quests to make examinations. But it is obvious enough 
that this was a course adopted while here, on account of 
the peculiarity of his situation. He had but recently 
arrived in the country. It was his object to study the 
effect of our free institutions upon the national character, 



208 PHRENOLOGY. 

before he should venture to give opinions of individuals 
from organization. And he very carefully studied the 
character and organization of our people, so far as he 
could do it unobserved. I can conceive many reasons 
which might operate with him, one of which would be 
quite conclusive. He had no time to devote in this way, 
it being wholly taken up with travelling, attending upon 
calls, preparing for lecturing, and in attending upon 
some of his works, which were in a course of publication. 
But these reasons do not apply to those who wish to 
make phrenology a study. They need no limitation to 
their examinations, but those dictated by rules of polite- 
ness, and the suggestions of self-respect. Caution should 
limit the remarks which they should make upon such ex- 
aminations. The heads of criminals, and of well marked 
distinguished individuals, may be very well calculated 
for illustration ; and casts of such are the only ones of 
which a public lecturer has a righ' to make free use. 
But the substantial proof on which the science rests is 
to be found in the study of nature every where. Dr. 
Spurzheim did not ask his hearers to take his illustra- 
tions as proofs, but directed them to go out into the world 
and examine for themselves. 

But should examinations be limited by the rule in the 
Annals, the student must be cramped in his researches, 
and the cases he would examine would furnish more 
exercise to wonder, than to his powers of discrimination. 
It would be like studying the geography of a country by 
looking only at its curiosities. The great mass of the 
community, where the force of external circumstances 
has been so uniform, as to be readily seen and appre- 
ciated, furnish the field of observation to the student of 
Phrenology. 



LECTURES ON PHRENOLo 209 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

LECTURES ON PHRENOLOGY. 

Those lectures, which the demands of the community 
seem to require on the science of Phrenology, are of 
three kinds. 

L Popular lectures, or lectures intended for large, 
mixed audiences, which are designed particularly to 
amuse as well as instruct. Such lectures have been 
extensively given before Lyceums and other literary 
societies, and before large audiences in our cities and 
large towns. Their effect is to introduce the subject 
favorably to the community, excite attention to it, and 
furnish an agreeable occupation to winter evenings, and 
a topic of instructive and amusing conversation in the 
social circle. I know of no science which, when embel- 
lished by the fascinating elocution of an accomplished 
lecturer, can exceed it in interest. In lectures of this 
kind it should be entirely optional with the lecturer, 
whether he attempts a practical application of the sci- 
ence. In this he will consult the peculiarity of his own 
genius and the extent of his practical skill. 

2. There is another kind of public lectures which are 
given to more select and less numerous classes, composed 
principally of such as have a serious purpose of becom- 
ing versed in the science. Classes of this kind may be 
presumed to have read more or less standard works on 
the subject ; and they seek the instructions of the living 
teacher, to assist them on those points where the books, 
with the best illustrations, fail to convey clear knowl- 
18* 



210 PHRENOLOGY. 

edge. It is expected that such classes will connect their 
lectures with observations, and gather proof for them- 
selves. They will not be satisfied short of a " series of 
unvarying facts, such as every one meets with, who sets 
himself duly and earnestly to make observations on nat- 
ural objects." The teacher should go with the student 
directly to the specimens of nature around him. He 
should direct the inexperienced student's observation, 
though it should happen to show what the experienced 
phrenologist can do. 

But, in these courses even, it is not expected that all 
will become interested so far as to wish to make them- 
selves thoroughly acquainted with the subject. The dis- 
crimination therefore will be best made, if the lecturer 
have a convenient room, at which individuals may call 
for the purpose of more practical and conversational lec- 
tures, connected with examinations. 

Where individuals of marked temperament and char- 
acter, whose years and standing shield them from preju- 
dice, and excite respect by their appearance, can be 
found, the lecturer may allow his friends to invite them 
to occupy a situation in the lecture room, which shall 
allow him to point out some of the peculiarities of their 
organization and character. This is better than a pre- 
pared bust of the same individuals would be, because 
temperament and modifying circumstances can be fully 
seen. Such examinations should be deferred till late in 
the course, and then should be confined principally to the 
sentiments and intellect. These are never to be con- 
sidered as full reports upon character. And the lecturer 
should then exercise great caution both in his judgments, 
and in relation to the feelings of the individual, who may 









OBSERVATIONS FOR TEMPERAMENTS. 211 

thus be benevolently disposed to lend himself for the 
good of science. I will not conclude my remarks on 
this subject, without saying that I consider the proceeding 
as liable to great abuse in the hands of the unskilled and 
incautious. 

3. The third class of lectures are what may be termed 
practical. They are intended expressly for those who 
intend to become thorough practical phrenologists ; they 
are given to a class of not more than twelve or fifteen, 
who are already acquainted with the general principles 
of the science. Such lectures were occasionally given 
by Dr. Spurzheim in London, and have been given in a 
few instances in this country. They are devoted ex- 
pressly to the practical part, and in connexion with 
examinations. Such classes should be formed by gentle- 
men who have the most entire confidence in each other, 
and whose prudence and good sense is a sufficient guar- 
antee, that no improper use may be made of the remarks 
made by the lecturer upon the subjects of the lectures. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

DIRECTIONS FOR OBSERVING TEMPERAMENTS. 

In this part of the work free use will be made of such 
cuts as will appear best to serve my purpose of illustra- 
tion. But I feel forcibly the remark of Dr. Spurzheim, 
that u to study nature by means of figures and artificial 
representations, is less certain and less agreeable than to 



912 PHRENOLOGY. 

observe her in herself. Yet the information conveyed 
by delineations of forms is more ample and more accu- 
rate, than can be communicated by mere description. 
Hence those, who would become phrenologists, derive 
far the greatest advantage from a course of practical lec- 
tures, although the same number of forms be not there 
shown as are, or may be, mentioned in books. The 
reason of this is, that notions of size and form can 
scarcely be acquired from any description, whilst they 
are gained at once by means of the touch and sight. 
Moreover, reading does not excite the same attention as 
demonstration. * * * Let those, therefore, who would 
see with their own eyes, observe individuals distinguished 
by peculiarity of character or greatness of talents, and 
examine the size and configuration of the concomitant 
heads, and they will find that nature is not influenced by 
false and subtile argumentations." 

In the application of Phrenology, the Jirst considera- 
tion to be taken into view is that of Temperament. 

Remarks on the several temperaments are made at 
page 144, where the subject is examined at some length. 
In the characters which will be given, the different tem- 
peraments will be designated. In judging of the differ- 
ent temperaments, we must be careful not to fall into 
error from any temporary appearance arising from illness, 
exhaustion, or excitement. We should look for habitual 
appearances, if we would rightly interpret character. A 
person of a lymphatic temperament, when flushed with 
wine and excited by conversation, may appear like one 
of the sanguine and lymphatic temperament combined. 
A person just recovering from protracted sickness may 
indicate the predominance of the nervous temperament, 



QUALITY OF THE BRAIN. 213 

when he has been all his life characterized for the san- 
guine and nervous. These different appearances should 
be carefully investigated, and judgments formed accord- 
ingly. The three regions of the head, thorax, and 
abdomen, should be particularly regarded in connexion 
with the complexion, color, and fineness of the hair, and 
outline of the features. 

Females are usually of the nervous and lymphatic 
temperament. " The female form," says Dr. Spurzheim, 
11 is generally smaller and more delicate than the male ; 
the extremities are shorter and proportionably more slen- 
der, the projection of the bones less marked, the neck 
apparently longer, the larynx less prominent, the chest 
shorter but more expanded, the abdomen larger, and the 
pelvis relatively more capacious in the female than in the 
male." These differences are quite sufficient to enable 
an experienced eye to detect the female form in male 
attire, or vice versa. Where the sanguine and nervous 
temperament characterize the female, the form will be 
found to approach that of the other sex. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

HOW JUDGMENTS ARE TO BE FORMED ON THE QUALITY OF 
THE BRAIN. 

The Quality of the brain is next to be taken into 
consideration, and of this judgment must be formed by 
physiological appearances, which also indicate tempera- 



214 PHRENOLOGY. 

ment. It is, however, a different consideration. I can 
conceive of a coarse texture of skin, muscle, bone, nerve, 
and brain, connected with either the sanguine, lympha- 
tic, bilious, or nervous temperament; or any combination 
of temperaments. What effect this has upon mental 
manifestation is not fully known. It is supposed, how- 
ever, that a fine quality of brain is better suited to the 
manifestation of the fine feelings, and delicate poetical 
thought. The quality of the female brain is generally 
finer than that of the male ; and this is supposed to be 
one reason why females are more delicate in their feel- 
ings and sentiments. The quality of food, to which a 
person should be accustomed for a long course of years, 
would, doubtless, have an effect upon the quality of the 
brain, and upon that of the whole system. It has been 
remarked, that the brain of Sir Walter Scott and of Byron 
were of a fine quality. The remarks of phrenologists 
on this subject require to be matured by further observa- 
tions. At present I should not take the quality of the 
brain into view in judgments of character, except in 
extraordinary cases. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

ON THE OBSERVATION OF THE SIZE OF THE HEAD IN REF- 
ERENCE TO MENTAL POWER. 

In taking into view the size of the head, it should be 
regarded, 1. In reference to the size of the whole per- 
son. 2. In reference to heads in general. I have re- 



SIZE OF HEAD RELATIVE TO MENTAL POWER. 215 

marked, page 33, that if the brain be too large for the 
whole body, it would indicate deranged proportion, and 
consequent general weakness. This remark is not made 
in reference to temperament, but simply in reference 
to size as a criterion of poivcr. When a formal judg- 
ment is to be made of the degree of mental power an 
individual may possess, as compared with others, size 
of head is not to be the criterion, unless it be a size which 
bears the best proportion to the whole system. This being 
taken as one of the conditions, and two individuals being in 
all respects similar in formation, but different in size, the 
larger will manifest more power than the smaller. Hence 
in judging of character, the size of the head becomes 
an important consideration. This seems to be a favorite 
doctrine with Mr. George Combe, and with the above 
slight modification I am fully aware of its importance, 
and will therefore state it in his own words. " As size 
coeteris paribus is a measure of power, the first object 
ought to be to distinguish the size of the brain generally, 
so as to judge whether it be large enough to admit of 
manifestations of ordinary vigor." It seldom happens, 
that we see heads so small as to cause from this source 
alone much mental imbecility. But the head is some- 
times so small, that the organs become insufficient for 
the manifestation of intellect. Below (Fig. VIII.) is the 
measurement of a head of average size contrasted with 
the head of an idiot twenty years of age. 



216 



PHRENOLOGY. 



Figure VIII. — Head of an Idiot. 




Measurement. Idiot. Aver. size. 

From Individuality to Philoprogenitiveness, 6^ 7± 
Ear to Individuality, 4f 

Do. to Philoprogenitiveness, 3f 

Do. to Firmness, 

Destructiveness to Destructiveness, 



4i 



5 

n- 

6 



Cautiousness to Cautiousness, 



4f 



5f 

5f 



As the idiot head, presented before us in the drawing, 
belongs to a person of nearly ordinary size, and who has 
always enjoyed health, no cause can be assigned for his 
idiocy but the extreme smallness of his head. An ac- 
count of his imbecility is contained in the Edinburgh 
Phrenological Journal, which is but the common history 
of idiocy. He cannot dress himself, — eats without ever 
being satisfied, — is fond of drink, — does not know the 
difference between a penny and half-penny, &c. The 
parents of this boy w 7 ere cousins, — an evidence that 
marriage of near relations is a breach of natural law. 

Size is to be taken into view in fixing the grade of 
mental energy, which is to be awarded to the individual, 
as whether he be a man of small, average, or great 
power, This, however, must not be a sole criterion. 



SIZE Or HEAD RELATIVE TO MENTAL POWER. 217 

Other circumstances must also be regarded. Mr. G. 
Combe remarks, that no instance has occurred of an 
individual, who, with a small brain, has manifested 
clearly and unequivocally great force of character, ani- 
mal, moral, and intellectual, such as belonged to Bruce, 
Bonaparte, or Fox. Here Mr. Combe should not be 
misunderstood. Power of intellect alone is not referred 
to, but mental character generally, including propensi- 
ties, sentiments, and intellect. Heads of no more than 
ordinary absolute size, sometimes belong to persons of 
great intellectual power. But such persons do not at the 
same time manifest great energy in the propensities. 
The head of the late Chief Justice Marshall, was not 
absolutely of the very largest size, though in fine propor- 
tion to his body. But the intellectual region and that of 
the higher sentiments were large, and the whole finely 
balanced. His writings and speeches all indicate great 
power of intellect and of the higher sentiments, but none 
of the fierceness of strong propensities. 

Again, remarks upon size should be made in compar- 
ing educated men with each other, and uneducated men 
with each other. For an uneducated man, who has 
always exercised his hands in manual labor, to the neg- 
lect of his brain, although that brain be large, will not 
compare with a man of a smaller brain, who has always 
exercised it by study and thought under strong excite- 
ment ; because exercise improves the functional power 
of the brain, as it does of the eye, arm, or hand. 
Education tends to increase the energy of the orgnns, 
and large organs will permit more increase of energy 
from education than small ones. 

Differences in size may be easily determined by a visit 
19 



218 PHRENOLOGY. 

to a hatter's shop, or by observing the heads in any pub- 
lic assembly. 

In an article in the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal, 
the following interesting remarks are made on this sub- 
ject, applied to members of the learned professions. 
" Many members of learned professions display great 
felicity of illustration and fluency of elocution, surprising 
us with the quickness of their parts, who nevertheless 
are felt to be neither impressive nor profound. They 
possess intellect without passion, and ingenuity without 
comprehensiveness and depth of understanding. There 
are other public speakers again, who open heavily in de- 
bate, their faculties acting slowly but deeply, like the first 
heave of a mountain-wave. Their words fall like minute 
guns upon the ear, and to the superficial they appear 
about to terminate ere they have begun their efforts. 
But even their first accent is one of power ; it arouses 
and arrests attention ; their very pauses are expressive, 
and indicate gathering energy to be embodied in the 
sentence that is to come. When fairly animated, they 
are impetuous as the torrent, brilliant as the lightning's 
beam, and overwhelm and take possession of feebler minds 
by impressing them irresistibly with a feeling of gigantic 
power.' 3 

How perfectly the above describes the eloquence of a 
distinguished senator in Congress from New England. 
And of him it may be said truly, that, in addition to all 
the accumulated energy arising from extreme mental 
labor, his head is of the very largest size, and very fully 
developed in all the regions. 

I think that certain combinations are particularly favor- 
able to these results, aside from mere size. Large self- 



DIFFERENCES IN HEADS. 219 

esteem, firmness, and reflective organs, form a combina- 
tion which gives a strong impression of power. This 
will convey deep thought, and it will be communicated 
in the natural language of self-esteem, which gives a 
strong impression of self, and attaches a peculiar impor- 
tance to every word uttered. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

DIFFERENCES IN GENERAL FORMATION OF HEADS NOTICED. 

1. General remarks upon children and females, as com- 
pared ?cith adults and males. 

Those, who commence making observations upon the 
peculiarities in the forms of heads, will soon remark that 
the heads of children and of females are more elongated 
backward from the ear than the heads of men. Our 
observations will be facilitated by running a vertical line 
from the ear to the top of the head in a few instances. 
We shall then observe that the amount of brain, contained 
in that portion back of the ear, is larger in proportion to 
the whole head in children and females, than in men. 

Among children the heads of girls will be more elon- 
gated back of this line than those of boys. 

The ear is selected as the starting point, because a 
line drawn from the orifice of one ear to that of the other 
would pass near the centre of the medulla oblongata, the 
distance from which to the surface determines the length 
of all the organs. 



220 PHRENOLOGY. 

From these more obvious observations, it will be easy 
to notice the relative proportion of the frontal and oc- 
cipital regions in the heads of individuals generally. A 
large amount of brain back of the ear, compared with 
that in front, will indicate the energy of the organs 
located in that region. Amativeness excepted, this is the 
seat of the peculiarly domestic feelings, which are known 
to be more energetic in females and in children, than in 
males. The superior elevation of female heads at the 
organs of the moral sentiments, and the general thinness 
of the heads at the lower side organs, secures the pre- 
dominance of the higher sentiments more than of intel- 
lect. 

2. Heads of precocious children. 

General form and size in the heads of children is a 
point of great importance to be attended to, in forming 
judgments upon their character and the adaptation of 
their education. 

It is not uncommon to see children with heads greatly 
out of proportion to the body. The elements of pre- 
cocity are largeness and great activity of brain, the 
latter often degenerating into morbid excitement; and 
the temperament is generally highly nervous. There will 
also be a large development of the several regions of the 
head, and a small, spare face and slender body. I have 
seen a child in the State of Maine not yet seven years of 
age, whose head is as large as that of an adult. He 
often manifests the depth of reflection, which would be- 
long to an adult of reflective habits. He has a great 
taste in music, and although he has never been allowed 
to learn to read, he has committed many small books to 



DIFFERENCES IN HEADS. 221 

memory, merely from hearing them read. Indeed a vol- 
ume might be written detailing evidence of great pre- 
cocity. A precocious head may soon be noticed. Pre- 
cocity is disease, and precocious children should be 
treated as patients. 

Such children seldom live ; and they are considered 
as too good and too wise to remain long on earth. If, 
however, parents, instead of indulging their feelings by 
encouraging precocity, would pay particular attention to 
the general growth of such children, and take special 
care that there mental faculties be exercised but moder- 
ately, many more might be saved and become healthy, 
and of great mental power, with nearly a corresponding 
physical energy. The heads of such children are much 
developed in the frontal region, and are exceptions to the 
general rule. 

3. Methods of ascertaining the size of the different lobes. 

We have remarked in another place, that the brain is 
divided into three lobes. (See p. 27.) Observations 
made upon the exterior of the head are for the purpose 
of ascertaining the size of the different parts of the brain. 
The method proposed by Dr. Spurzheim is to view the 
head profile-wise, and make an imaginary line, vertical 
from the orifice of the ear to the point in the middle of 
the upper part of the head, which corresponds with the 
union of the frontal and sagittal sutures.* This line 
thus drawn will give a tolerably correct idea of the 
elongation of the frontal and sincipital regions; but fur- 
nishes no data for determining how much of the brain is 



See Fig. IX. 
19* 



222 PHRENOLOGY, 

devoted to the middle lobe, and where the frontal lobe 
commences. 

The inexperienced, whose organs of form and size are 
not active, will be assisted by measurements with calli- 
pers. These will enable one to get the distance from 
the orifice of the ear to any point in the mesial line. 
Experienced Phrenologists often take these measures for 
the purpose of recording the size of the head as nearly 
as possible. This work will contain the measurements 
of several heads thus taken. But it is better that the 
appropriate faculties be educated to this work by experi- 
ence. Mr. G. Combe's method is to ascertain the size of 
the different lobes. The size of the anterior lobe in the 
living head, he says, is indicated by the portion lying 
before constructiveness and benevolence. But this is 
like bounding a large section of country by reference to 
obscure town lines, which have not yet been explained. 

There is a difficulty attending any mode of indication, 
and, after all that can be said, sound judgment must be 
used. The organs of the frontal lobe come to the sur- 
face within what is understood as the forehead. But the 
hair in some grows down over the upper part of the re- 
flective organs, while in others the head is bare back of 
these. This, therefore, is not an infallible guide. The 
frontal lobe, as it occupies the surface of the brain, lies, 
nearly all, over the sockets of the eye. Hence the depth 
of the frontal lobe will best be observed by noticing how 
much would be forward of the line drawn vertically from 
the external angle of the eye. This will not take in all 
the frontal lobe. But it will indicate the different de- 
grees of depth in the frontal lobes. If the angle of the 
eye be far back, and a large mass of brain seem to lie 






DIFFERENCES IN HEADS. 223 

over the arch, it indicates that the frontal lobe is large, 
especially when the head is also much elongated from 
the ear forward.* An experienced Phrenologist, who 
easily detects the boundary line of constructiveness and 
benevolence, will be assisted in first ascertaining them. 
The peripheral expansion must be determined by a front 
view, and may be ascertained with sufficient accuracy by 
the eye. 

It is not important to fix very distinctly the precise 
vertical line between the middle and posterior lobes, as 
the base of both is occupied with the propensities. And 
an imaginary line drawn either from the mastoid process, 
or the orifice of the ear vertically, will enable one to 
judge of the mass of brain in the back region, so far as 
it can be determined by observations made from a pro- 
file view. But a back view also is necessary to be taken, 
in order to determine the peripheral expansion of the 
posterior lobe. 

The size of the middle lobe should be ascertained by 
noticing the breadth of head in the middle region, and 
the elevation of the head above the ear. There is usually 
an angle at a point nearly equi-distant from the mesial 
line and the orifice of the ear, which is at the middle of 
the parietal bone, and at the centre of the organ of cau- 
tiousness. The amount of brain above this point indi- 
cates the size of the organs of those sentiments, which 
are over the middle lobe, and the amount of brain below 
indicates the size of the organs of the propensities. When 
the head is very little developed above cautiousness, the 
character is likely to be under the dominion of the pro- 
pensities. 

* See head of Marshall. 



224 PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

CLASSIFICATION OF HEADS. 

The above remarks lay the foundation for a classifica- 
tion of heads. Those, who have much the larger amount 
of brain in the basilar and occipital region, constitute 
the first class. These may be termed ruffian heads. In 
our description of this class, we shall take rather extreme 
cases. . They embrace the class of criminals generally, 
and all those who need the influences arising from the 
action of positive laws to protect society from their 
depredations. They are found among the lowest classes, 
and usually spring from low and degraded parentage. 

Figures IX. and X. are the cuts of the heads of 
Williams and Bishop, two murderers lately executed in 
London for murder, committed to gain money by the 
sale of dead bodies to teachers of anatomy. These in- 
dividuals are selected, because their conduct originated, 
not from morbid excitement, nor any diseased condition 
of the brain or momentary impulse ; but was deliberate 
and settled ; and they therefore furnish &fair illustration 
of the principles of Phrenology. Dr. Elliotson, of Lon- 
don, has given his view of their organization, as taken 
from an examination of their casts. 

" The head of Williams," says Dr. Elliotson, u is far 
the worse. The intellectual portion is very small, — 
exceeding low; while that devoted to the animal propen- 
sities, the lower posterior and lower lateral parts, espe- 
cially destructiveness, acquisitiveness, and secretiveness, 
is immense." 



CLASSIFICATION OF HEADS. 



225 



The relation of the developments of the organs to each 
other is given below : — 

Figure IX. — Three Views of the Head of 
Williams. 



Destructiveness, very 

LARGE. 

Amativeness, very large. 
Philoprogenitiveness, mod- 
erate. 
Adhesiveness, large. 
Inhabitiveness, full. 

COxMBATIVENESS, VERY 
LARGE. 

Acquisitiveness, very 

LARGE. 

Constructiveness, small. 
Cautiousness, very large. 
Approbativeness, large. 
Self-esteem, full. 
Benevolence, very small. 
Reverence, very small. 
Firmness, small. 
Conscientiousness, very 

small. 
Hope, very small. 
Marvellousness, small. 
Ideality, small. 
Perceptive faculties, large. 
Reflective faculties, small. 




With such a deficiency of reflective faculties, moral 
sentiments, and ideality, and with large lower side organs, 
(acquisitiveness, secretiveness, and destructiveness,) 
every thing in his character tended to low habits and 
villany. So dissipated were his habits, that he left his 



226 PHRENOLOGY. 

occupation of a bricklayer, and associated with thieves 
and blackguards ; — was frequently in custody on charges 
of felony, and was sentenced to transportation seven 
years ago for stealing. After that he turned body-snatcher, 
broke into houses to steal corpses, and at last, for mere 
expedition, without the persuasion of any one, did not 
hesitate to murder his fellow creatures, for the sake of 
selling their bodies. 

The preceeding views and outline of the head of Wil- 
liams will give a tolerably correct notion of the general 
form of his head. The outline shows great breadth of 
head back of, and between, the ears, giving to the head 
almost the form of a wedge. The fibre in the occipital 
region is both long and thick, indicative of great activity 
and power in the organs of the propensities. The gen- 
eral resemblance of this head to that of Pope Alexan- 
der VI. will be readily recognised by a Phrenologist, 
but it is revolting to look at such, either in high life or 
low. 

" In Bishop/' says Dr. Elliotson, u the forehead 
slopes considerably, and is narrow, — the intellectual 
portion is wretched ; the superior portion, that dedica- 
ted to the moral sentiments, is low, (lower than it ap- 
pears, on account of the hair not having been shaved 
off there, like that of Williams, previous to taking the 
casts, and having become matted with the plaster,) and 
it is particularly narrow, while the lower lateral por- 
tions are large, acquisitiveness particularly so. The 
whole head is much smaller than that of Williams, 



CLASSIFICATION OF HEADS. 



227 



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Figure X. — Three Views op the Head of Bishop. 
The relative proportion of the organs stands thus : — 

DESTR UCTIVE N ESS, V FRY 
LARGE. 

Amativeness, large. 
Philoprogenitiveness, large. 
Adhesiveness, moderate. 
Inhabitiveness, average. 
Qombativeness, small. 
Secret iyeness, large. 
Acquisitiveness, very 

LARGE. 

Const rue tiveness, moder- 
ate. 
Cautiousness, moderate. 
Approbativeness full. 
Self-esteem, large. 
Benevolence, small. 
Reverence, moderate. 
Firmness, rather large. 
Conscientiousness, very 

SMALL. 

Hope, small. 
Perceptive organs, large. 
Reflective organs, small. 

The smaller size of Bishop's head agrees with the fact, 
that Williams led Bishop into the course of crime which 
caused the forfeiture of his life; for it is said, that after 
pursuing the trade of body-snatching for some time, 
Williams thought of saving trouble by killing people as 
they were wanted, and induced Bishop to join him in this 




228 PHRENOLOGY. 

improvement. The preponderance of the lower and 
posterior region of Bishop's head is as decided as in the 
head of Williams. The relative developments of con- 
scientiousness and acquisitiveness are such, that he 
would have no difficulty in lying, perjury, and cheating 
in every way for gain ; and his small combativeness 
agrees with his character for a sneaking villain, — an 
arrant coward." 

The preceding slightly abridged account of Williams 
and Bishop, from the Edinburgh Phrenological Jour- 
nal, are good illustrations of the ruffian head, and will 
stand in strong contrast to the heads of those possessed 
of high intellectual and moral qualities ; — such as Wash- 
ington, Franklin, Marshall, Lafayette, Rush, and Tilton. 

A writer in the Phrenological Journal, commenting 
upon the above and other ruffian heads, remarks, that the 
Edinburgh Phrenological Society has upwards of eighty 
casts and sculls of executed criminals, all belonging to 
the first class, collected from various parts of the globe, 
and exhibiting the same general character; and the 
writer says, " he has seen several hundred in England, 
Ireland, and on the continent, and states the general 
prevalence of this combination among them to be so ob- 
vious and certain, that criminals require only to be looked 
at, after acquiring sufficient skill in observation, to give 
rise to an irresistible conviction of an unfavorably formed 
brain being a constant concomitant of naturally vicious 
dispositions. The vast majority of criminals belong to 
this class ; they are born and grow up with preponderating 
animal propensities, and are relatively deficient in the 
moral and intellectual powers." 



CLASSIFICATION OF HEADS. 229 

I have been the more particular on this branch of my 
remarks upon the general form of heads, for the purpose 
of turning attention more to the development of the re- 
gions, and the general preponderance of related organs of 
one kind, over related organs of an opposite kind, as 
giving a general drift to character. Those, who have 
not taken pains to study Phrenology carefully, when 
they see large destructiveness, think the individual must 
be a murderer, no matter how predominant the moral 
sentiments are. So if benevolence, reverence, or con- 
scientiousness be full or large in the head of an indi- 
vidual, whose brain is much more developed in the basilar 
and posterior regions, than in the sentiments, and that 
individual be a murderer, as in the case of John Turtell, 
they infer that Phrenology is at fault. The truth is, the 
general character must be inferred very much from the 
predominance of regions. Particular traits, peculiarities, 
eccentricities, a*nd special talents must be hunted out in 
a detailed examination and balancing of particular or- 
gans. This view of the subject will enable people, who 
have a difficulty in remembering precisely the location 
of all the organs, to judge of the general amount of tal- 
ent and drift of character, from observations made on the 
several regions of the head ; and the nice shades of char- 
acter, together with the force of education, may be as- 
certained by well directed general observations and 
inquiries. I would not, however, be understood to 
recommend to the student of Phrenology to rest satisfied 
with these general views, when a more accurate knowl- 
edge may be obtained by thorough examination. 

20 



230 



PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

HEADS REMARKABLE FOR THE PREDOMINANCE OF THE 
SINCIPITAL AND FRONTAL REGIONS. 

Contrasted with the ruffian heads of Williams and 
Bishop, I will present the reader with the portraits of 
two men remarkable for the predominance of opposite 
qualities, and who belong in the second or best class. 
The first is the portrait of Dr. James Tilton. 

Figure XI. — Head of Dr. Tilton. 




The form of Dr. Tilton's head will be seen at a glance 
to be the opposite of that of Williams. The frontal and 



REMARKABLE HEADS. 2*31 

middle lobes are much larger than the posterior. The 
writer never saw Dr. Til ton, but on seeing the likeness 
ofhim in the American Medical Biography, was so struck 
with it, that he was determined at once to select it as one 
strongly illustrative of the predominance of the higher 
sentiments, especially of conscientiousness, firmness, and 
benevolence. The organ of conscientiousness [16] 
is predominant and supported by very large firm- 
ness, [15.] 

Next to these in size are the organs of benevolence, 
reverence, cautiousness, ideality, mirthfulness, causality, 
and comparison, all of which are large ; secretiveness and 
acquisitiveness are moderate. The portrait does not 
enable me to speak of self-esteem, love of approbation, 
adhesiveness, or indeed of any of the organs in the pos- 
terior region. On seeing a man with such an organiza- 
tion, rising 6~ feet high, of a thin habit, dark complexion, 
and cheerful countenance, what would be your impres- 
sions ? Mine would be, that he is a man of the most strict 
integrity, great frankness, candor, directness, and love of 
truth ; with great steadiness of purpose and perseverance, 
he would be kind, sympathetic, and benevolent ; would 
respect others, and would like the homage of genuine 
respect, but not the fawning of sycophants. He would 
be somewhat particular in what he required of others, 
and would have no fellowship with selfishness and in- 
trigue. He would highly enjoy beauty and wit; would 
be judicious and philosophical, yet practical, and in any 
society of men all eyes would turn to him, as one on 
whom the Almighty had fixed the image of an honest, 
upright man. What say his biographers? 



232 PHRENOLOGY. 

" He was born in the County of Kent, New Jersey, in 
1745, of respectable parents. His father died soon 
after. His mother was a very pious and conscientious 
woman, and to her example he attributed his religious 
impressions and success in life. He prepared himself 
at the suitable age for the medical profession. He was 
a graduate of the medical school, Philadelphia, in 1771. 
After commencing practice, he soon obtained a high 
standing and deserved eminence in his profession. In 
this, as in every other pursuit, his soul, as towering as 
his stature, never stooped to unfair means to further his 
views. He was a generous rival ; disdaining low arti- 
fice, he invariably treated his medical brethren with re- 
spect and generosity ; honor and conscious rectitude of 
intention, by which he invariably regulated his conduct, 
forbade him to descend to those mean tricks, which always 
mark the base and illiberal. " In 1776 he left his prac- 
tice, and entered the army of the revolution as surgeon. 
He afterwards became hospital surgeon, and performed 
the duties with great skill and assiduity. His views were 
adopted as a plan for the reform of the medical depart- 
ment of the army, and were attended with complete suc- 
cess. He was a member of the old Congress, 1782. 
After the war he resumed his profession in his native 
county. Soon after this he removed to New Castle 
county, on account of his health. As a physician he 
was bold and decided, and never temporized with disease, 
[firmness.] His remedies were few in number, but gen- 
erally of an active kind, [judgment.] Few physicians 
exercised more candor towards their patients, [conscien- 
tiousness and benevolence.] He never visited or dosed 
the sick unnecessarily. He had no secrets in medicine, 



REMARKABLE BEADS. 233 

[small secretiveness.] He stood at the head of his pro- 
fession in the State, and his naturally strong and discrim- 
inating mind peculiarly fitted him for consultation, [large 
causality and comparison,] and for many years before his 
death scarcely a case of any consequence occurred, 
within the circle of his practice, in which more than one 
physician was necessary, but his advice was requested. 

" To young practitioners he was uncommonly kind and 
indulgent; instead of opposing, he assisted their exer- 
tions, [benevolence.] In 1812 he was appointed Physi- 
cian and Surgeon General of the army of the United 
States, a station which he filled with honor, although at the 
age of sixty-eight. At the age of seventy a disease in the 
knee rendered amputation of the limb necessary. When 
he had made up his mind to submit, he remained as firm 
as the pyramids in the tempest, and calmly gave direc- 
tions to the surgeon and medical assistants. 

" Dr. Tilton never married ; yet was always an advocate 
for this happy condition of man. He was an ardent ad- 
mirer of the fairer part of creation ; and whatever might 
have been his disappointments in early life, he never 
allowed them to warp his judgment or vitiate his taste. 
The high regard, entertained for him by that class of his 
patients in the practice of his profession, speaks volumes 
in his favor. He was fond of young company, and en- 
joyed the society of his friends exceedingly. He was a 
real Christian, and during the latter period of his life the 
criptures became his principal study. He died 1822 
aged seventy-seven. 

" In whatever view," says Dr. McLane, u we may 
consider Dr. Tilton, we shall find many traits to distin- 
guish him from other men. He was in many respects 
20* 



234 



PHRENOLOGY. 



an original ; wholly unlike most other men in person, 
countenance, manners, speech, gestures, and habits. 
Whether he walked or sat still, whether in conversation 
or mute, whether he ate, drank, or smoked, whether in a 
grave mood or indulging in his loud laugh, all was in a 
style peculiar to himself, and most remarkable. For 
honesty and frankness he was proverbial ; in these im- 
portant points he had few equals, certainly no superiors, 
[look at his head.] His whole life afforded a luminous 
example of deep-rooted principles and moral rectitude." 

Figure XII. — Head of Dr. Rush. 
13 




The head of Dr. Rush indicates a combination con- 
sistent with the character of the philanthropist, Christian 
philosopher, and the man of deep science. So far as 
his power of doing and knowing would depend on him- 
self or the instructions of others, there would be scarcely 



REMARKABLE HEADS. Wo 

a limit to his genius; but he was not the man who would 
command and control others for his own purposes. 
Nearly all the intellectual organs were uncommonly 
large. His benevolence acting with them gave him 
those expanded views, which cannot be satisfied short of 
the whole human family. His reverence is large also, 
and this connected with large marvellousness and hope, 
with moderate self-esteem, and an active, thoughtful 
habit, would incline him to rational but consistent views 
of religion. His capacious organs of intellect would 
desire the knowledge which would make him learned, 
and his active causality and comparison would give him 
a turn for reflection and a comprehensive philosophy. 
In his family he must have been exemplary and kind, but 
his mere domestic feelings must have been as little con- 
spicuous in his character, as are their organs in his 
head. 

Dr. Rush was born December 24th, 1745, received his 
collegiate education at Princeton, graduated at fifteen, 
and studied medicine six years in Philadelphia ; thence 
went to Edinburgh, and there graduated in 1768. While 
a student he began to keep a note book of remarkable 
occurrences, which he continued through life. From 
Edinburgh he went to London and France, and thence 
returned to Philadelphia and commenced the practice of 
physic in 1769. He was soon elected Professor of Chem- 
istry in the college at Philadelphia. 

In 1791, Dr. Rush was appointed professor of the 
Institutes and Practice of Medicine and of Clinical Prac- 
tice in the University of Pennsylvania, retaining his 
appointment as Professor of Chemistry, the college having 
been merged in the university. He was a public teacher 



236 PHRENOLOGY. 

of medicine for forty -four years, and probably gave public 
instruction to between two and three thousand pupils 
He was in constant search after truth, and always ready 
to give up old opinions as soon as discovered to be incor- 
rect, [moderate self-esteem and firmness.] He was con- 
stantly brooding over the medical systems of others, cor- 
recting them by his own observations and reasonings; 
and bringing the whole to the test of experience. Instead 
of being proud of his attainments, he was disposed to ex- 
claim " Haec quantum nescimus." 

The character of his mind will be shown by observing 
the changes he introduced into his profession. When he 
began to lecture, diseases were reduced, in the manner 
of the botanists, to order, classes, genera, and species. 
More than thirteen hundred diseases are enumerated by 
Cullen. Dr. Rush substituted in its place an inquiry, 
not so much into the name, as the peculiar nature of the 
disease. He abandoned this artificial classification, and 
reduced their numerous forms into morbid excitement, 
induced by irritants acting upon previous debility. He 
further simplified the science, by considering every morbid 
state of the system to be such as to require depletion or 
stimulation. This is thought to reduce the labor of prep- 
aration for practice at least two fifths. About 1790 he 
began to publish his new views, and he continued im- 
proving his system every succeeding year, and introducing 
the improvements in his lectures. No man more readily 
retracted his opinions, when new light from any quarter 
pointed out their defects. His rejection of the division of 
fever into genera was justified by the following reasons, 
" They erect imaginary boundaries between things that 
are of a homogeneous nature ; they degrade the human 



REMARKABLE HEADS. :<J37 

understanding by substituting simple perceptions to its 
more dignified operations in judgment and reasoning ; 
they gratify indolence in a physician by fixing his atten- 
tion upon the name of a disease, and thereby leading him 
to neglect the varying state of the system ; they moreover 
lay a foundation for disputes among physicians. By the 
rejection of the artificial arrangement of diseases a revo- 
lution must follow in medicine. Observation and judg- 
ment will take the place of reading and memory, and 
prescriptions will be conformed to existing circumstan- 
ces." His skill and perseverance during the Yellow 
Fever in Philadelphia, in 1793, were worthy of all praise. 
His- biographer says, " had the same events taken place 
in the early argesof the pagan world, he would have been 
deified." His works are voluminous and original, and 
of incalculable value to the American student. He suf- 
fered no fragments of time to be wasted. He was gifted 
from heaven with a lively imagination, a retentive mem- 
ory, and a discriminating judgment. From boyhood till 
his last sickness he was an indefatigable student. He 
read much, but thought more. His mind was con- 
stantly engrossed with at least one literary inquiry, to 
which for the time he devoted his undivided attention. 
To make himself master of that subject, he read, he 
meditated, he conversed. It was less his custom to read 
a book through, than to read as much of all the authors 
within his reach as bore on the subject of his present 
inquiry. His active mind brooded over the materials 
thus collected, compared his ideas, and traced their rela- 
tions to each other, and from the whole drew his own 
conclusions. To Dr. Rush every place was a school, 
and every one with whom he conversed a tutor. His 



238 PHRENOLOGY. 

note book consisted of two parts, one for facts as they 
occurred, and the other for ideas and observations as they 
occurred in his own mind, or were suggested by others 
in conversation. A moderate portion of his time was 
devoted to sleep, and less to the pleasures of the table. 
Medical inquiries were the primary objects of Dr. Rush's 
attention ; but he took such a comprehensive view of his 
profession, that he made all branches of knowledge tribu- 
tary to it. From the philosophy of mind, as connected 
with the body, he drew many useful hints respecting the 
functions and diseases of the latter. Theology, natural 
and civil history, philosophy, natural, moral, and politi- 
cal ; the principles and practices of agriculture, the lib- 
eral, mechanical, and chemical arts ; histories of voyages, 
travels, and the lives of illustrious characters, and the 
nature of man, under all its varieties of age, country, 
religion, climate, and form of government, were so far 
known to him as to furnish facts, illustrations, and alle- 
gories, casting light on medical subjects. 

In the Revolution he served his country as physician- 
general in the middle department. He was a member of 
the Congress of 1776, and signed the Declaration of 
Independence. During the last fourteen years of his 
life he was treasurer of the national mint. 

The humility which characterizes his opinions [small 
self-esteem] is manifested in the combination of his reli- 
gious and political views. He says, " the Christian can- 
not fail of being a republican, for every precept of the 
Gospel inculcates those degrees of humility, self-denial, 
and brotherly kindness, which are directly opposed to the 
pride of monarchy and the pageantry of a court, " 



REMARKABLE HEADS. 239 

He was the founder of the Philadelphia Dispensary, 
the first of the kind in the United States. He denied 
the justice and policy and even the right of punishing 
murder by death, [destructiveness small.] He exerted 
himself in the temperance cause by endeavouring to sup- 
press the immoderate use of ardent spirits and tobacco, 
and his opinions are quoted to this day on this subject. 

In attending upon patients, his manner was so gentle 
and sympathizing, that pain and distress were less poig- 
nant in his preserve. On all occasions he exhibited the 
manners of a gentleman. He took so lively an interest 
in every thing that concerned his pupils, that each be- 
lieved himself to be a favorite, while his kind offices to 
all proved that he was the common friend and father of 
them all. Piety to God was an eminent trait in his char- 
acter. He usually closed the day by reading the scrip- 
tures and family prayer. 

His desire after knowledge was the engrossing passion 
of his life. He remarked while young, and when he 
stepped from the ship that brought him home from Eu- 
rope, " that no circumstance of personal charms, fortune, 
or connexions should tempt him to perpetrate matrimony, 
(his own phrase) till he had extended his studies so far, 
that a family would be no impediment to his farther pro- 
gress." He married at the age of 32. " Medicine is my 
wife; science is my mistress; books are my companions. 
My study is my grave : there I lie buried ; the world for- 
getting, by the world forgot." 

We have presented to the reader the two extremes of 
character and opposites in cerebral development. In 
making the selections, we avoided eminent divines, states- 
men, and lawyers, not because instances equally strong 



240 PHRENOLOGY. 

were not to be found, but because we might hope to es- 
cape prejudice and imputations of partiality. So far as 
the same can be noticed from general views of the head, 
the great mass of mankind are ranged between these 
two extremes. Examples of these may be noticed at all 
times. 

Men, who have been most conspicuous in swaying the 
destinies of their fellow-men, are such as are charac- 
terized for their large heads, with a nearly equal develop- 
ment of all the different regions. The equality of their 
organizations save them from errors of feeling as well as 
of intellect. Taking themselves for the correct type of 
human nature, they come more nearly to the truth. It 
cannot be necessary to multiply the cuts of heads of this 
description. The public will readily call to mind many 
distinguished individuals, who approach to this condition. 
With strong propensities, they have still stronger intel- 
lects and sentiments, so that, unless temptation to evil 
should be long continued and strong, they will resist. In 
a favorable state of society, individuals with propensities 
slightly preponderating, will not be guilty of excesses. 
As human nature is now constituted, it was the opinion 
of Dr. Spurzheim, that this is the condition of a great 
majority of mankind. We have to remark, says he, that 
in common the occipital region is unfortunately more 
developed than the frontal. On this circumstance de- 
pends in part the general and excessive energy of the 
animal nature of man. Again he says, the basilar region 
of the brain is generally larger than the sincipital. This 
is another cause of the great activity of the animal na- 
ture of man. 



FORMS OF THE FOREHEAD. 241 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

OF THE FORMS OF THE FOREHEAD. 

There are characteristic formations of the different 
regions, and especially of the forehead. In some the 
perceptive organs greatly predominate ; this produces a 
rapidly retreating forehead. Such people attend readily 
to things in detail, and the physical qualities and relations 
of objects, — have great facility in whatever they under- 
take, and will be very quick in availing themselves of 
the reflections of others, and may be very happy in illus- 
tration, but find it difficult to reason deeply. It is a very 
favorable organization for a servant or persons in subor- 
dinate situations, but not as favorable to those who are 
required to think more than to observe.* Most of the 
English statesmen and lawyers, who have succeeded best, 
have foreheads quite receding. This was the form of the 
foreheads of Lord Mansfield, Lord Erskine, Sheridan, 
Canning, and many others who might be named. The 
forehead of Washington and Lafayette are also rather 
retreating. In most of these cases, there seems to have 
been that harmonious balance between the reflective 
and perceptive organs, which is most favorable to busi- 
ness, judgment, and practical ability. 

When the reflective faculties greatly predominate, the 
middle and superior part of the forehead is prominent, as 
in the heads of Kant, Locke, Burke, and others. 

* The North American Indians usually have a predominance of 
the perceptive organs. This would be seen in profile view of 
Black Hawk. 

21 



242 PHRENOLOGY. 

Another class, in whom the reflective organs are very 
large, with very considerable power in the perceptive 
organs, may be mentioned. Of this class were Fox, 
Franklin, Drs. Gall, Spurzheim, and Rush; Alexander 
Hamilton, De Witt Clinton, Wirt, W*****r, and L**- 
******n. When the perceptive organs predominate 
greatly, the character is more simple, and we see more 
distinctly the effect of motive springing directly from 
fundamental feelings. This is still more strikingly the 
case where secretiveness is small. I shall omit to present 
the reader with sketches or drawings of these varieties, 
because the slightest observation will enable individuals 
to select examples for themselves. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



OF THE MODE OF ILLUSTRATING ORGANS, TALENTS, AND 
CHARACTERS COMBINED. 

I snALL illustrate elementary principles or faculties by 
giving individuals of determinate characters and talents. 
The reader will then see how each organ tends to their 
formation ; and he will see it precisely as it is verified in 
nature. A few observations may be occasionally made, 
pointing out the organs, but in general this will be un- 
necessary. A statement of the organization will be 
given, and this will be sufficient. 

Dr. Spurzheim in his work on Physiognomy has given 
the characters of a large number of remarkable persona- 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS, ETC. 243 

ges, and he intended to have also written another work 
on the Talents of individuals. As every individual has 
both character and talent, I see no necessity for a divis- 
ion. It will be my object to give the reader both views 
in my remarks upon the same individual. The distinc- 
tion I make between talents and character is this ; Tal- 
ents are considered as indicated by certain large intellec- 
tual organs combined ; and assisted by constructiveness, 
imitation, ideality, firmness, &c. Character is indicated 
by certain combinations among the sentiments and pro- 
pensities. Thus a man may have the talent for an artist 
or an orator, and the character of a rogue, or an honest 
or religious man. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

CHARACTER AND TALENTS OF ROBERT BURNS. 

The following is extracted from an Essay by Mr. Rob- 
ert Cox, on the character and cerebral developments of 
Robert Burns. It is a fair sample of the method, in which 
Phrenology may be applied to the criticism of individual 
character and talents, not merely from development, but 
from a person's sentiments and opinions. It is rather 
too much a detailed account of individual organs, but is 
full of shrewd phrenological remarks, made in a way to 
be appreciated and remembered by the student of Phre- 
nology. The Essay was read before a Society of Edin- 
burgh, formed expressly for the study and practical 
application of Phrenology, and published in the Edin- 
burgh Phrenological Journal. 



244 



PHRENOLOGY. 



" Before considering the particular faculties by which 
Burns was distinguished, it may be useful to offer a few 
observations on his head and character generally. In 
these preliminary remarks I shall advert, 1. To the gen- 
eral size of his brain ; 2. To its quality and activity ; 
and 3. To the relative development of the three great 
divisions of the cerebral organs, — those of the animal, 
moral, and intellectual powers. 

" 1. In general size, the scull of Burns considerably 
surpasses the majority of Scottish crania; heads which, 
even undivested of the integuments, equal it in volume, 
being regarded by phrenologists as large. The following 
are the dimensions of the scull of Burns : 



Greatest circumference, ••••'-• 

From Occipital Spine to Individuality, over top of 
Scull, 

From Ear to Ear vertically over top of Scull, 

From Philoprogenitiveness to Individuality (great- 
est length,) .... 

From Inhabitiveness to Comparison, 

From Ear to Philoprogenitiveness, 

From Ear to Individuality, 

From Ear to Benevolence, 

From Ear to Firmness, 

From Destructiveness to Destructiveness, 

From Secretiveness to Secretiveness (greatest 
breadth,) 

From Cautiousness to Cautiousness, 

From Ideality to Ideality, 

From Constructiveness to Constructiveness, 

From Mastoid process to Mastoid process, 



Inches. 

14 
13 



H 

4f 
5f 



5£ 
4f 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 245 

" During life, the circumference of Burns's head must 
have been about 24 inches, the length 8£, and the 
breadth 6£. 

" 2. The quality of the poet's brain was still more pre- 
eminent than its size. Its activity and intensity of 
action were indeed very remarkable. His temperament 
appears from Nasmyth's portrait, but more particularly 
from the descriptions given of his person and the expres- 
sion of his countenance, to have been bilious-sanguine, 
or bilious-nervous, (bilious predominating,) both of which 
are accompaniments of great cerebral and muscular ac- 
tivity. ' His form/ says Dr. Currie, ' was one that 
indicated agility as well as strength. His well-raised 
forehead, shaded with black curling hair, indicated ex- 
tensive capacity. His eyes were large, dark, full of 
ardor and intelligence. His face was well formed, and 
his countenance uncommonly interesting and expressive. 
He was very muscular, and possessed extraordinary 
strength of body.' Sir Walter Scott, who had the for- 
tune to see Burns, gives the following account of the 
natural language of his features : « There was a strong 
expression of sense and shrewdness in all his lineaments ; 
the eye alone, I think, indicated the poetical character 
and temperament. It was large and of a dark cast, 
which glowed, (I say literally glowed) when he spoke, 
with feeling or interest. I never saw such another eye 
in a human head, though I have seen the most distin- 
guished men of my time.' Independently of tempera- 
ment and expression, however, there is a sufficiency of 
direct evidence of the intense vivacity, with which Burns's 
brain was capable of performing its functions. ' Burns,' 
says Currie, ■ had in his constitution the peculiarities and 
21* 



246 



PHRENOLOGY. 



the delicacies that belong to the temparament of genius. 
Endowed by nature with great sensibility of nerves, 
he was, in his corporeal as well as in his mental system, 
liable to inordinate impressions ; to fever of body as well 
as of mind.' To the same effect are the following re- 
marks, from the pen of a female writer, (understood to 
be Mrs. Riddle,) who knew him well. f I believe no 
man was ever gifted with a larger portion of the vivida 
vis animi; the animated expression of his countenance 
was almost peculiar to himself. The rapid lightnings of 
his eye were always the harbinger of some flash of genius, 
whether they darted the fiery glances of insulted and 
indignant superiority, or beamed with the impassionate 
sentiment of fervent and impetuous affections. 3 

" 3. With respect to the relative development of 
the three great divisions of the poet's brain. Heads, 
as is well known, are generally divided by phrenologists 
into three classes. The first includes those, in which 
the organs of the propensities and lower sentiments pre- 
dominate over the organs of the faculties peculiar to 
man ; that is to say, where Amativeness, Combativeness, 
Destructiveness, Secretiveness, Acquisitiveness, Self- 
esteem, Love of approbation, and Cautiousness, or most 
of them are larger than Benevolence, Conscientiousness, 
Veneration, Ideality, and the organs of Reflection. 
Heads in the second class are of an exactly opposite 
description, and indicate a preponderance of the moral 
feelings and reflective intellect. The third is composed 
of heads, in which the two orders of organs are pretty 
equally balanced. A man, whose head belongs to the 
first of these classes, is naturally endowed with base, 
selfish, and violent dispositions ; and falls into vicious 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 247 

practices in spite of the best education. He, in whom 
the organs of the moral sentiments and reflective intel- 
lect predominate, is ' a law unto himself,' resists temp- 
tation to evil doing, and remains uncorrupted even among 
associates the most depraved. When there is little dis- 
proportion between the organs of the propensities and 
those of the peculiarly human faculties, as in the third 
class, the character of the individual is powerfully influ- 
enced by circumstances, and is good or bad, according 
to the society in which he is trained, the ideas instilled 
into his mind, and the example and motives set before 
him.* To this third class — but with a slight leaning, 
perhaps, towards the first — belonged the head of Robert 
Burns. The basilar and occiptal regions, in which are 
situated the organs of the animal faculties, appear from 
the cast to have been very largely developed ; but, at the 
same time, the coronal region — its frontal portion at 
least — is also large ; and the anterior lobe, containing 
the organs of the intellect, is very considerably devel- 
oped. Besides, the natural force of the regulating 
powers must have been greatly increased by the excellent 
moral- and religious education which the poet received. 
The following statement of the cerebral development, 
indicated by the scull, shows the relative size of the in- 
dividual organs; and the four views, on page 249, 
though not perfectly accurate, will convey to the reader 
a sufficiently correct notion of the general appearance 
of the scull. 

* This is the classification adopted by me, and of the first and 
second classes examples are already given. 



248 



PHRENOLOGY. 



Figure XIII. — Head of Robert Burns. 




DEVELOPMENT 

1. Destructiveness, large. 

2. Amativeness, rather large. 

3. Philoprogenitiveness, very 

large. 

4. Adhesiveness, very large. 

5. Inhabitiveness, large. 

6. Combativeness, very large. 

7. Secretiveness, large. 

8. Acquisitiveness, rather 

large. 

9. Constructiveness, full. 

10. Cautiousness, large. 

11. Love of approbation, very 

large. 

12. Self-esteem, large. 

13. Benevolence, very large. 

14. Veneration, large. 

15. Firmness, full. 

16. Conscientiousness, full. 



OF THE ORGANS. 

17. Hope, full. 

18. Marvellousness, large. 

19. Ideality, large. 

20. Wit, or Mirthfulness, full. 

21. Imitation, large. 

22. Individuality, large. 

23. Form, rather large. 

24. Size, rather large. 

25. Weight, rather large. 

26. Color, rather large. 

27. Locality, large. 

28. Order, full. 

29. Number, rather full. 

30. Eventuality, large. 

31. Time, rather large. 

32. Tune, full. 

33. Language, uncertain. 

34. Comparison, rather large. 

35. Causality, large. 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGAN'S — HEAD OF BURNS. 249 

F.gure XIV— Fou. Views of the Scull ok Burns. 




11 The mind of Burns was indeed a strange compound 
of noble and debasing qualities. ' In large and mixed 
parties, 5 says Dr. Currie, ' he was often silent and dark, 
sometimes fierce and overbearing ; he was jealous of the 
proud man's scorn, jealous to an extreme of the insolence 
of wealth, and prone to avenge, even on its innocent 
possessor, the partiality of fortune. By nature kind, 
brave, sincere, and in a singular degree compassionate, 
he was, on the other hand, proud, irascible, and vindic- 
tive.' 

" It appears, then, that none of the regions of Burns's 
brain was, in relation to the others, deficient ; its total 
size, we have also seen, was great, and its activity was 
very extraordinary. Hence the force of character for 



250 PHRENOLOGY. 

which he was remarkable ; the respect which men in- 
stinctively paid him; the strong impression which he 
has made upon the public mind ; the impressiveness and 
originality of his conversation ; the dread which his re- 
sentment inspired ; and the native dignity with which he 
took his place among the more learned and polished, but 
less gifted, literary men of his day. 

" Amativeness is well developed. The cerebellum 
appears to have had considerable latitudinal and longitu- 
dinal dimensions ; but as it does not seem to have been 
proportionally deep, I estimate the size of the organ at 
' rather large. 5 Adhesiveness is superior to it, and is 
stated as ' very large. 5 Ideality also is great. If to 
all this we add the extreme susceptibility of the poet's 
brain, we shall have no difficulty in perceiving the source 
of the strong attachments which he formed, especially to 
individuals of the other sex, — his enthusiastic admiration 
of the latter, his ardent patriotism, and the tenderness and 
affection embodied in his songs. 

" In conformity with the views of Mr. William Scott, 
who regards Adhesiveness as ' the centre of true affec- 
tion/ and Amativeness as an auxiliary though indispen- 
sable element in the passion of love, I conceive that, in 
the loves of Burns, Adhesiveness w T as a stronger ingre- 
dient than Amativeness, — the influence of which also, 
however, was certainly important. 

" I have little doubt that love of Approbation and Se- 
cretiveness, which are largely developed, essentially con- 
tributed to augment the number of his love adventures. 
Secretiveness delights in concealment, intrigue, and stolen 
interviews, and, combined with Individuality, gives tact 
and savoir faire. Its organ was certainly one of the 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 251 

largest in the brain of Burns, and in love affairs the ten- 
dency found abundant gratitication. 

" Philoprogenitiveness is very large, and the poet's affec- 
tion for his children was proportionally strong. It was 
Philoprogenitiveness that formed the chief obstacle to his 
emigration to America. In one of his letters, after enu- 
merating the various motives by which he was impelled to 
leave Scotland, he adds, « All these reasons urge me to 
go abroad, and to all these reasons I have only one an- 
swer — the feelings of a father. This, in the present 
mood I am in, overbalances every thing that can be 
laid in the scale against it.' He dreaded poverty more 
on account of his wife and children, than for his own 
sake ; and the prospect of leaving them destitute gave 
him many uneasy reflections. ' There had much need/ 
he writes to Mrs. Dunlop, ' be many pleasures annexed 
to the states of husband and father, for God knows they 
have many peculiar cares. I cannot describe to you the 
anxious, sleepless hours these ties frequently give me. I 
see a train of helpless little folks ; me and my exertions all 
their stay ; and on what a brittle thread does the life of 
man hang ! If I am nipt off at the command of fate, even 
in all the vigor of manhood as I am, — such things happen 
every day, — gracious God ! what would become of my 
little flock ! ; Tis here that I envy you people of fortune. ' 

"The organ of Combativeness is also very large. 
Burns, along with much Cautiousness, had a strong 
endowment of courage. In the course of his duty as an 
exciseman, he on one occasion headed some dragoons, 
waded sword in hand to a smuggling brig on the shore of 
Solway Firth, and was the first to board her. The crew 
lost heart and submitted, though their numbers were 



252 PHRENOLOGY. 

greater than the assailing force. (Lockhart, p. 219.) 
Combativeness was one of the elements in his irratibility 
of temper. It made him also naturally inclined to dispu- 
tation, and impatient of contradiction. ' He was more 
disposed/ says Allan Cunningham, ' to contend for victory 
than to seek for knowledge. The debating club of Tar- 
bolton was ever strong within him ; a fierce lampoon, or a 
rough epigram, was often the reward of those who ven- 
tured to contradict him. His conversation partook of the 
nature of controversy, and he urged his opinions with a 
vehemence amounting to fierceness. 

" In childhood he delighted in perusing narratives of 
martial achievements. ( The two first books I ever read 
in private, 5 he says, ' and which gave me more pleasure 
than any two books I ever read since, were The Life of 
Hatinibal, and The History of Sir William Wallace. 
Hannibal gave my young ideas such a turn, that I used 
to strut in raptures up and down after the recruiting drum 
and bagpipe, and wish myself tall enough to be a soldier ; 
while the story of Wallace poured a Scottish prejudice 
into my veins, which will boil along there till the flood- 
gates of life shut in eternal rest.' 

"The effects of the large Destructiveness of Burns 
were very conspicuous. From this, and Self-esteem, 
arose that vindictive and sarcastic spirit which formed one 
of his chief failings. In one of his letters, he speaks of 
' the dirty sparks of malice and envy which are but too apt 
to invest me ; ' and in an unpublished piece, he alludes to 
the terror excited by 

" Burns's venom, when 
He dips in gall unmixed his eager pen, 
And pours his vengeance in the burning line.'" 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 253 

11 Respecting Burns's Acquisitiveness, a few words are 
necessary. According to his own description, he was 
I a man who had little art in making money, and still less 
in keeping it.' That his art in making money was suffi- 
ciently moderate, there can be no doubt; for he was 
engaged in occupations which his soul loathed, and 
thought it below the dignity of genius to accept of pecu- 
niary remuneration for some of his most laborious literary 
performances. He was, however, by no means insensi 
ble to the value of money, and never recklessly threw it 
away. On the contrary, he was remarkably frugal, ex- 
cept when feelings stronger than Acquisitiveness came 
into play — such as Benevolence, Adhesiveness, and 
Love of Approbation ; the organs of all of which are very 
large, while Acquisitiveness is only rather large. 

" The indifference with respect to money, which Burns 
occasionally ascribes to himself, appears therefore to 
savor of affectation ; a failing into which he was not 
unfrequently led by Love of Approbation and Secretive- 
ness. Indeed, in one of his letters to Miss Chalmers, 
he expressly intimates a wish to be rich. 

" Burns, as we have already seen, was in common 
silent and reserved. This resulted chiefly from large 
Secretiveness. His appearance, on the occasion of a visit 
by Mr. Mackenzie, was very characteristic. ' The poet/ 
says that gentleman, ' seemed distant, suspicious, and 
without any wish to interest or please. He kept himself 
very silent in a dark corner of the room, and before he 
took any part in conversation, I frequently observed him 
scrutinizing me, while I conversed with his father and 
his brother.' — (Cunningham, p. 61.) His love adven- 
tures, above noticed, furnish another illustration. Some- 
22 



254 PHRENOLOGY. 

times also, like Sir Walter Scott, whose Secretiveness 
was no way inferior to his, he disowned the authorship 
of his productions. ' Burns/ says Cromek, * sometimes 
wrote poems in the old ballad style, which, for reasons 
best known to himself, he gave to the world as songs of 
the olden time. That famous soldier's song, in particular, 
first printed in a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, beginning, ' Go 
fetch me a pint of wine/ has been pronounced by some 
of our best living poets, an inimitable relique of some 
ancient minstrel ! Yet I have discovered it to be the 
actual production of Burns himself. The ballad of Auld 
Lang Syne was also introduced in this ambiguous man- 
ner, though there exist proofs that the two best stanzas 
of it are indisputably his ; hence there are strong grounds 
for believing this poem also to be his production, notwith- 
standing the evidence to the contrary. It was found 
among his MSS. in his own hand writing, with occasional 
interlineations, such as occur in all his primitive effu- 
sions.' — (Reliques, p. 112.) Secretiveness is a chief 
ingredient in humor, of which Burns possessed a distin- 
guished share. 

" Self-esteem was a very prominent quality in the 
character of Burns. The organ is largely developed 
and, besides partaking of the general activity of his brain, 
was peculiarly stimulated by adverse circumstances, and 
the painful consciousness that his station in life was not 
that to which his talents made him entitled. Self-esteem, 
in fact, was a chief source of the annoyances which em- 
bittered his days. ' There are/ he says in his common- 
place book, ' There are few of the sore evils under the 
sun give me more uneasiness and chagrin than the com- 
parison how a man of genius, nay of avowed worth, is 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 255 

received every where, with the reception which a mere 
ordinary character, decorated with the trappings and 
futile distinctions of fortune, meets. I imagine a man 
of abilities, his breast glowing with honest pride, con- 
scious that men are born equal, still giving honor to 
whom honor is due; he meets, at a great man's table, a 
Squire Something, or a Sir Somebody ; he knows the 
noble landlord at heart, gives the bard, or whatever he is, 
a share of his good wishes, beyond, perhaps, any one at 
the table ; yet how will it mortify him to see a fellow, 
whose abilities would scarcely have made an eight-penny 
tailor, and whose heart is not worth three farthings, meet 
with attention and notice, that are withheld from the son 
of genius and poverty ! The noble Glencairn,' he adds, 
1 has wounded me to the soul here ; because I dearly 
esteem, respect, and love him. He showed so much 
attention — engrossing attention — one day, to the only 
blockhead at table, (the whole company consisted of his 
lordship, dunderpate, and myself,) that I was within half 
a point of throwing down my gage of contemptuous 
defiance.' Again, in a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, he says, 
' When I must skulk in a corner, lest the rattling equi- 
page of some gaping blockhead should mangle me in the 
mire, I am tempted to exclaim, ' What merits has he had, 
or what demerit have I had, in some state of pre-existence, 
that he is ushered into this state of being, with the sceptre 
of rule and the key of riches in his puny fist, and I am 
kicked into this world, the sport of folly, or the victim of 
pride.' " 

" ' One of the principal parts in my composition,' he 
writes to his teacher, Murdoch, " is a kind of pride of 
stomach, and I scorn to fear the face of any man living : 



256 



PHRENOLOGY. 



above every thing, I abhor as hell the idea of sneaking 
in a corner to avoid a dun — possibly some pitiful, sordid 
wretch, whom, in my heart I despise and detest.' It was 
his powerful Self-esteem and Combativeness, along with 
great general size of brain, that gave him that coolness 
and self-possession in the company of men far above his 
station, which various authors have remarked with sur- 
prise. His manners in that society w r ere, as Professor 
Stewart notices, ' strongly impressive of conscious genius 
and worth.' 

" Love of Approbation was still more powerful than 
Self-esteem. Burns was greedy of fame and applause, 
and extremely annoyed by disapprobation. This was one 
of the strongest motives by which he was actuated. His 
cogitations before printing the first edition of his poems, 
and when he had the full intention of emigrating to Ja- 
macia, are thus recorded by himself. 'Before leaving my 
native country for ever, I resolved to publish my poems. 
I weighed my productions as impartially as was in my 
power : I thought they had merit ; and it was a deli- 
cious idea that I should be called a clever fellow, even 
though it should never reach my ears." He writes to 
Mrs. Dunlop : "lam fully persuaded that there is not 
any class of mankind so feelingly alive to the titillations 
of applause as the sons of Parnassus ; nor is it easy to 
conceive how the heart of the poor bard dances with 
rapture, when those, whose character in life gives them 
a right to be polite judges, honor him with their appro- 
bation.' In another letter the following remark occurs : 
* I have a little infirmity in my disposition, that where I 
fondly love or highly esteem, I cannot bear reproach.' 
He might have added that advice was almost equally 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 251 

intolerable. Mr. Robert Riddell, one of his friends, men- 
tions that the poet often lamented to him that fortune 
had not placed him at the bar or in the senate: ' lie had 
great ambition/ says Dr. Riddle, 'and the feeling that he 
could not gratify it preyed upon him severely.' (Cun- 
ningham's Life, p. 350.) ' He was far from averse,' says 
the female writer already quoted, ' to the incense of flat- 
tery, and could receive it tempered with less delicacy than 
might have been expected.' The r t pologies, with which 
his letters abound, show how desirous he was to retain 
the good opinion of his friends ; and the anxiety which he 
manifested respecting his posthumous reputation was very 
great. i My honest fame,' he says, ' is my dearest con- 
cern, and a thousand times have I trembled at the idea 
of the degrading epithets that malice or misrepresentation 
may affix to my name.' This letter is so well known, 
that it is unnecessary to quote farther. One additional 
illustration of Burns's love of notoriety — from " The 
Poet's Welcome to an Illegitimate^ Child," — may be 
given: — 

" The mair they talk, I'm ken'd the better ; 
E'n let them clash ! " 

" Cautiousness is much larger than Hope ; in conse- 
quence of which circumstance, joined to delicate health, 
external misfortunes, and the raging of passions within. 
Burns was afflicted with constitutional melancholy, or li- 
ability to blue devils. His teacher, Murdoch, records that, 
in youth, ' Robert's countenance was generally grave, 
and expressive of a serious, contemplative, and thought- 
ful mind; ' and Allan Cunningham, who lived near him 
at Ellisland, mentions that c his face was deeply marked 
22* 



258 



PHRENOLOGY. 



by thought, and the habitual expression intensely melan- 
choly.' ' My constitution and frame/ says Burns himself, 
' were ah origine blasted with a deep incurable taint of 
hypochondria, which poisons my existence.' And again, 
in a letter to Mrs. Dunlop ; ' There is a foggy atmosphere 
native to my soul in the hour of care ; consequently the 
dreary objects seem larger than life.' He always looked 
forward with gloomy anticipations to the future, and 
dreaded a time when he should return to his primitive 
obscurity. The temperament of genius, it may be re- 
marked, adds strength to the cause of hypochondria ; for 
by the laws of physiology, every transport of inspiration 
is followed by a corresponding depression of mind. 

" The organ of Benevolence is very largely developed. 
This feeling was strong in Burns, and was one of his 
grand redeeming virtues. Its effusions frequently occur 
in his correspondence. In a letter to Mr. Hill, he says, 
'Mankind are by nature benevolent creatures. There 
are in every age a few souls that all the wants and woes 
of life cannot debase to selfishness, or even to the neces- 
sary alloy of caution and prudence. If I am in danger 
of vanity, it is when I contemplate myself on this side 
of my disposition and character. God knows I am no 
saint ; I have a whole host of sins and follies to answer 
for ; but if I could, and I believe I do it as far as I can, 
I would wipe away all tears from all eyes.' ' His chari- 
ties/ says Mr. Gray, ' were great beyond his means.' In 
particular, he showed great kindness to the harmless 
imbecile creatures about Dumfries. He could not bear 
to see a bird robbed of her young ; he spared and be- 
wailed the fate of the mouse whose dwelling was up- 
turned by his plough ; and the verses written on seeing 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 259 

a wounded hare pass by, are expressive of the strongest 
compassion. His feelings on the latter occasion were a 
remarkable combination of Benevolence and destruc- 
tiveness ; two feelings which, though antagonists, by no 
means neutralize each other, but may be simultaneously 
in a state of high excitement. The poem is compounded 
of the language of imprecation and pity, in almost equal 
proportions : — 

" Inhuman man ! curse on thy barbarous art, 
And blasted be thy murder-aiming eye : 
May never pity soothe thee with a sigh, 
Nor ever pleasure glad thy cruel heart! 

" Go, live, poor wanderer of the wood and field, 
The bitter little that of life remains : 
No more the thickening brakes and verdant plains 
To thee shall home, or food, or pastime yield. 

" Seek, mangled wretch, some place of wonted rest, 
No more of rest, but now thy dying bed ! 
The sheltering rushes whistling o'er thy head, 
The cold earth with thy bloody bosom pressed. 

M Oft as by winding Nith, I musing wait 

The sober eve, or hail the cheerful dawn, 
I '11 miss thee sporting o'er the dewy lawn, 
And curse the ruffian's aim and mourn thy hapless fate." 

" Some may be surprised to be told that Veneration 
was a powerful sentiment in Burns. That such was the 
case, however, there seems to be no room for doubt. 
Professor Stewart says, ' He had a very strong sense of 
religion, and expressed deep regret at the levity with 
which he had heard it treated occasionally in some con- 
vivial meetings which he frequented.' Allan Cunning- 



260 



PHRENOLOGY. 



ham states, that at Ellisland < he performed family wor- 
ship every evening.' But his Wonder and Veneration 
being large, he had naturally a leaning towards things 
invisible, and both in his letters and in his memoranda 
makes very frequent allusions to the Deity. 

" ' My idle reasonings/ he says, ' sometimes make me 
a little skeptical, but the necessities of my heart always 
give the cold philosophisings the lie.' Burns' s Venera- 
tion was displayed in his strong jacobitical feeling, and 
his reverence for Sir William Wallace. He did not 
venerate many of his contemporaries, as he thought him- 
self at least the equal of most of them. But men of 
high rank, who showed him attention, he regarded with 
much respect. No one, however powerful his Veneration 
may be, ever reveres those whom, under the influence of 
other faculties, he despises or dislikes. 

" The portrait of Burns seems to indicate a large de- 
velopment of Firmness; but in the cast of his scull, the 
organ has by no means a marked appearance. A large 
development of Firmness gives a tendency to persist in 
purpose, opinion, and conduct. From its activity result 
perseverance, steadiness, and resolution. So far as I am 
able to judge, Burns was rather deficient in those quali- 
ties. ' The fervor of his passions/ says Mrs. Riddel! , 
c was fortunately tempered by their versatility. He was 
seldom, never indeed, implacable in his resentments ; 
and sometimes, it has been alleged, not inviolably steady 
in his engagements of friendship.' Much, indeed, has 
been said of his inconstancy and caprices. 

" Conscientiousness is in nearly the same condition as 
Firmness. This feeling was well cultivated in youth by 
his father, who was a very sagacious, honest, intelligent, 



ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 261 

and pious man. It was quite sufficient to render him 
honest and candid when no contending impulse was 
present, and also to make him aware of his imperfections ; 
but it wanted power to restrain the vehemence of his 
lower feelings within the bounds of candor and justice. 
'There is nothing in the whole frame of man/ he says, 
' which seems to me so unaccountable as that thing 
called conscience. Had the troublesome, yelping cur 
powers efficient to prevent a mischief, he might be of 
use ; but, at the beginning of the business, his feeble 
efforts are to the workings of passion as the infant frosts 
of an autumnal morning to the unclouded fervor of the 
rising sun ; and no sooner are the tumultuous doings of 
the wicked deed over, than, amidst the native conse- 
quences of folly, in the very vortex of our horrors, up 
starts conscience, and harrows us with the feelings of the 
damned.' 

" Ideality, — the principal organ of poetical feeling, — 
is large ; though, as might have been anticipated from 
the degree in which he manifested most of the intellec- 
tual faculties, it is equalled in size by many of the other 
organs. Burns's love of the sublime and beautiful was 
very strong. His temperament was that which is best 
adapted for the experience of poetical feeling. He was 
passionately fond of the beauties of nature, but it was in 
the dreary, solemn, desolate sublime that he seems to 
have delighted most. Such a taste I have repeatedly 
found possessed by individuals with large Destructive- 
ness, Cautiousness, and Ideality, moderate Hope, and a 
susceptible temperament. Burns was especially fond of 
the season of winter. ' This, I believe/ says he, * may 



262 PHRENOLOGY. 

be partly owing to my misfortunes giving my mind a 
melancholy cast ; bat there is something even in the 

" Mighty tempest and the hoary waste, 
Abrupt and dead, stretched o'er the buried earth," — 

which raises the mind to a serious sublimity, favorable to 
every thing great and noble. There is searcely any 
earthly object gives me more, — I do not know if I should 
call it pleasure, — but something which exalts me, some- 
thing which enraptures me, — than to walk in the shel- 
tered side of wood or high plantation, in a cloudy winter 
day, and hear the stormy wind howling among the trees, 
and raving over the plain. It is my best season for devo- 
tion : my mind is wrapped up in a kind of enthusiasm 
to Him, who, in the pompous language of the Hebrew 
bard, c< walks on the wings of the wind." ' The enthu- 
siasm here mentioned results from activity of Ideality, 
Wonder, and Veneration. 

" Burns was less remarkable for wit than for humor. 
The former is well described by Lockhart as a ' peculiar 
vein of sly, homely wit/ Humor depends on the organ 
of Secretiveness, Mirthfulness, and Individualty ; while 
wit is more exclusively connected with the second organ. 
The poet had little gaiety of disposition about him, ex- 
cept when stimulated by society or otherwise. ' His wit.' 
says Professor Stewart, ' was ready, and always impressed 
with the marks of a vigorous understanding ; but, to my 
taste, not often pleasing or happy.' 

" Imitation is large. I am not aware whether Burns 
indulged in mimicry ; but certainly he had a tendency to 
imitate the style of such books as he was very familiar 
with. He was a successful imitator of the old songs of 






ILLUSTRATION OF ORGANS HEAD OF BURNS. 263 

Scotland. Imitation conferred on him also the dramatic 
power which characterizes some of his humorous pro- 
ductions, such as The Twa Dogs, The, Holy Fair, The 

Jolly Beggars, and also many of his songs. He had an 
extraordinary tact in assuming for a time the feelings of 
individuals, — identifying himself with them, — and giv- 
ing expression to those feelings in forcible and striking 
language. The great excellence of his songs consists in 
the admirable adaptation of the words to the tune. 
1 When his soul,' says Sir Walter Scott, ' was intent on 
suiting a favorite air to words humorous or tender, as the 
subject demanded, no poet of our tongue ever displayed 
higher skill in marrying melody to immortal verse.' For 
these talents, Imitation is believed to be indispensable. 

" The intellect of Burns was of a high order. He was 
not indeed on a level with such men as Bacon, Shak- 
speare, or Franklin; but his understanding was neverthe- 
less one of unusual power. The anterior lobe projects 
much forward, and the frontal sinus probably did not 
exceed the ordinary size. Individuality seems to have 
been the largest of the intellectual organs. From this, 
and Eventuality, which is very little inferior to it, origi- 
nated the remarkable acuteness of his observation, and 
the vividness of his descriptions. There is nothing 
general in the pictures which he draws : every object is 
given with a distinctness and detail which make us 
almost imagine that the scene itself is before our eyes. 
Burns's love of knowledge was very strong, and had the 
same origin. In youth, as his brother Gilbert relates, 
he read such books as he could procure, ' with an avidity 
and industry scarcely to be equalled.' ' No book,' it is 
added, ' was so voluminous as to slacken his industry, or 



264 PHRENOLOGY. 

so antiquated as to damp his researches.' His penetra- 
tion into the feelings and motives of others arose from 
Individuality and Secretiveness, joined to the strength of 
his own faculties in general. The first gave readiness in 
noticing and remembering facts ; the second enabled him 
to dive beneath external appearances ; and the third 
furnished the consciousness, and hence the full compre- 
hension, of every faculty which actuates mankind. 

" He was fond of travelling, and of visiting scenes 
renowned in history and song. c I have no dearer aim/ 
he tells Mrs. Dunlop, ' than to have it in my power, un- 
plagued with the routine of business, for which Heaven 
knows I am unfit enough, to make leisurely pilgrimages 
through Caledonia ; to sit on the fields of her battles ; to 
wander on the romantic banks of her rivers; and to muse 
by the stately towers or venerable ruins, once the hon- 
ored abodes of her heroes. 7 This wish he afterwards in 
some measure accomplished. Its principal source was 
his powerful Locality. By means of the same faculty, 
he 'made a good progress' at school in mensuration, 
surveying, and dialling. 

" Respecting Comparison and Causality I have nothing 
to remark, except that they are indispensable ingredients 
in a character so sagacious as that of Burns. 

" Burns had a good deal of logical power, and could 
trace acutely cause and effect ; but it is hardly necessary 
to observe, that of his reflective faculties he had little 
opportunity of making any notable display ." 



SHERIDAN A DRAMATIST AND ORATOR. 



265 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

CHARACTER AND TALENTS OF RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERI- 
DAN, A DRAMATIST AND ORATOR. 



Construcliveness, 



41 





ilggiii 











Figure XV. — Head of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. 

Measurement. 
From Spine to Individual- 



ity, .... 8^ 

From Inhabitiveness to 
Comparison, . . 7£ 

From Ear to Spine, . 4^ 

From Ear to Eventuality, 5| 

From Ear to Benevolence, 6^ 

From Ear to Firmness, 6^ 

From Destructiveness to 
Destructiveness, . 6£ 

From Secretiveness to Se- 
cretiveness, . . 6^ 

From Cautiousness to 
Cautiousness, . . 5| 

From Ideality to Ideality, 5 

From Constructiveness to 







Figure XV. contains tbree outline miniature views of 
the plaster cast of the head of an individual well known 
to the world. It was taken after death. He had a large 
23 



266 PHRENOLOGY. 

and fully developed head, with strong propensities and 
strong sentiments, and in his life manifested great variety 
of character and talent. His reputation was that of the 
greatest dramatist of his time, as well as of a distinguish- 
ed member of the House of Commons. 

Remarks. — 1. The foregoing presents a large head 
strongly developed in all the three great regions. 

2. It is a long head before the ear, and a broad rounded 
head back of the ear ; ■ — a form which gives a long slender 
fibre to the intellectual organs favorable to activity, and 
short but thick fibres to the propensities, and as a whole 
possessed of great power. Below the organs are classed, 
according to size, a much more concise method of dis- 
tinguishing peculiarities of character. 

Class 1. — Combativeness, self-esteem, love of appro- 
bation, individuality, very large. 

Class 2. — Philoprogenitiveness, inhabitiveness, adhe- 
siveness, destructiveness, secretiveness, veneration, hope, 
eventuality, size, language, large. 

Class 3. — Cautiousness, benevolence, firmness, imita- 
tion, locality, rather large. 

Class 4. — Amativeness, ideality, weight, color, tune, 
comparison, wonder, full or average. 

Class 5. — Acquisitiveness, conscientiousness, caus- 
ality, and wit, rather full. 

Class 6. — Constructiveness, form, order, time, num- 
ber, small. 

Were such an individual presented to me as a stranger, 
I would draw several inferences. 

1. The highest class of organs are those which give a 
love of public life, and a courage to overcome opposi- 
tion. He must be & public m&n. I am confirmed in this 



SHERIDAN A DRAMATIST AND ORATOR. 2G7 

the more from the small size of acquisitiveness, con- 
structiveness, form, order, and number; these would 
weigh almost as nothing compared with his love of pub- 
lic life. He would never get an estate by the regular 
business methods. 

2. As all the domestic feelings are large, his character 
in this respect would be strongly marked, would be 
much attached to wife, children, friends, and home, 
though his public feelings might keep him away from 
these sometimes. All this is true of him. He was most 
devoted to his wives, especially the first. It was a secret 
marriage. A lady says of him at the death bed scene of 
his first wife, " that he behaved wonderfully, though his 
heart was breaking, and at times his feelings were so 
violent, that it was feared he would have been quite un- 
governable at last ; yet he summoned up courage to kneel 
by the bed side till he felt the last pulse of expiring excel- 
lence, and then withdrew." His biographer says, " it is 
impossible for a man to be more devotedly attached to 
his children than he was; their society amused and con- 
soled him ; but when left alone his anguish returned in 
all its force." 

3. Looking at the rank of the side and selfish organs. I 
find them larger than those of benevolence, reverence, 
and conscientiousness. The large organs of destruc- 
tiveness, secretiveness, and combativeness, would act 
principally with, and subordinate to, self-esteem and love 
of approbation. But secretiveness and approbativeness, 
assisted by his reverence, would turn his influence to the 
use of soft and conciliatory means, grasping rather at the 
weakness of others, than alarming their terrors. This 
characterized him. 



268 PHRENOLOGY. 

4. I would infer from the above, that he would be very 
courtly and agreeable in his manners, and would be 
respectful to high rank and wealth. This was strikingly 
the fact. 

5. From his large individuality and eventuality acting 
in connexion with the large secretiveness, love of appro- 
bation, and moderate conscientiousness and reflective 
powers, I should suppose he would have great powers of 
observation, admirable tact, and a very accommodating, 
conventional kind of conscience. 

6. His reflective powers being only sufficient for a har- 
monious and equalized action with his powers of obser- 
vation, and his memory of things and events, and power 
of language being strong, as a speaker he would find it 
for his interest to compose carefully in secret, and com- 
mit to memory. This was the case with him. All 
his great speeches in parliament were most carefully 
elaborated and committed beforehand. But his large 
secretiveness induced him to throw them out as if 
entirely extempore. 

7. His depth was more a depth of feeling than of 
thought, hence he would have a great present popularity, 
but would leave nothing for posterity to remember. [His 
influence died some years before him, and now he is 
never quoted as a statesman. He was indeed more of 
a student than he ever wished to be considered. " His 
acquisitions," says his biographer, " whether in love, 
learning, wit, or wealth, are mysterious and miraculous." 
Yet he gave no evidence of long reaches of thought and 
great comprehension of mind.] 

Having looked at his strong points, let us see how his 
weak organs would be likely to injure him. His small 



SHERIDAN A DRAMATIST AND ORATOR. 269 

acquisitiveness would have but little influence over his 
thoughts. His moderate cautiousness and large hope 
would lead him to look on the bright side, so that he 
would neglect to acquire, except as a means of gratifying 
his ambition. His pride and ambition would lead to 
expensive living. With his moderate order, time, and 
number, he would be likely to involve his pecuniary 
affairs in confusion ; and his moderate conscientiousness 
would allow him to disregard his promises and engage- 
ments ; hence he would be likely to be always in trouble 
about his money matters. [This was his great trouble, the 
ruinous state of his finances was the cause of his downfall, 
and his intemperate habits were acquired in attempts to 
drown his sorrows.] It will be noticed that the organ of 
inirthfulness, or wit, comes into the fifth class ; yet his 
reputation stands very high on this point. In his play, 
f 1 The School for Scandal," the dialogue abounds in wit. 
This, however, did not arise from the direct fervor of 
composition, but his witticisms and jokes were collected 
from time to time, and kept in recollection upon the 
margin, until he had a chance of weaving them into the 
text. The whole organization is favorable to great 
cheerfulness, and his mirthfulness was large enough to 
enjoy the wit of others, his memory served him to glean 
it up, and his secretiveness assisted him to appropriate 
it so as to conceal the plagiarism. That these remarks 
may not be thought to be framed to help out Phrenology, 
may be seen from the following : 

He was in the habit of noting down epigrammatic 

points in his memorandum book. For a comedy on 

Affectation, the following is noted. " He certainly has a 

great deal of fancy, and a very good memory ; but with 

23* 



270 PHRENOLOGY. 

a perverse ingenuity he employs these qualities as no 
other person does ; for he employs his fancy in his narra- 
tives, and keeps his recollection for his wit. When he 
makes his jokes you applaud the accuracy of his memory, 
and it is only when he states his facts, that you admire 
the flights of his imagination. " After many efforts to 
improve upon this conceit for some years, he at last 
brought it out in a debate in the House of Commons. 
" The right honorable gentleman is indebted to his mem- 
ory for his jests, and to his imagination for his facts.' ' 
Mr. Sheridan knew what it was to draw upon his memory 
for his wit. 

I will close this article with a quotation. " At a period 
fertile beyond most in our history in men of splendid 
talents, unaided by the advantages of birth, [his father was 
an actor,] hereditary wealth, or family connexions, with- 
out the assistance of learning, this extraordinary person 
contrived, by means as mysterious as they were success- 
ful, to rear for himself a structure of fame and fortune, 
as brilliant at least, if not as solid, as that of any, even 
the greatest, of his contemporaries. Not contented with 
the reputation of being the first dramatic poet of his time, 
he aimed at, and acquired, the still higher fame of one of 
our most eminent orators and statesmen, associated with 
nobles and princes, c and might,' as he himself, ex- 
pressed it ' have hid his head in a coronet, had he been 
contented to barter his independence for such honors as 
princes can bestow.' Long, however, before his death, 
his reputation, public as well as private, had been on the 
wane. Embarrassments and disgrace gradually thick- 
ened around him, and he, who began his career like a 
comet, advancing with great and accelerating activity 



JUDGE MARSHALL TALENTS AND CHARACTER. '211 

into the full blaze of papular and royal favor, after he had 
passed his perihelion, run out with diminished force and 
lustre into the cold and angenial regions of penury and 
distress, and ended in an obscurity almost as great, as 
that from which he had at first so gloriously emerged. 5 ' * 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL, TALENTS OF A STATESMAN AND 
JUDGE, AND CHARACTER OF A MODEST, FIRM, HONEST, 
INDEPENDENT MAN. 

Figure XVI. — Head of Judge Marshall. 




It is sometimes said to Phrenologists, " what do you 
think of the head of Judge Marshall ? there is nothing 
remarkable in its appearance, and it is not large; yet he 

* Edinburgh Phrenological Journal. 



272 PHRENOLOGY. 

was certainly one of the greatest men of the age." This 
question is one which a Phrenologist should delight to 
answer. The analysis of such a character is full of 
instruction and of interest to the student of human 
nature. We do not answer, that he was made what he 
was entirely by the force of circumstances, although 
these were remarkably favorable to the development of 
his great powers. If we allow all to circumstances, we 
shall admit, that men are made wholly by external influ- 
ences. This is contrary to common observation, and 
opposed to the first principles of Phrenology. His cere- 
bral organization appears to have been highly favorable 
to the attainment of his great excellence as a judge and a 
man, but we believe there are a considerable number in 
this country now, who, if acted upon by the same circum- 
stances, would in time become equally distinguished. 
But no man in this country has, for so long a period, 
been in situations requiring such untiring mental effort, 
upon great and difficult questions, with so great advan- 
tages for availing himself of the assistance of others. 
To have been young and educated, at the breaking out 
of the Revolution, and the son of a talented and judicious 
officer, to have held a command, and have been actively 
engaged in those times of great excitement, to have 
studied the profession of law, and entered upon its- 
arduous duties, when legal information was scarce and 
constantly in requisition — to have been an active states- 
man, associated with Washington, Henry, Jefferson, and 
Madison, in all the great political questions, agitated 
during the formation of our present national government 
and his own state government, either as a member of the 
conventions of the people, or of Congress, or as a secre- 



JUDGE MARSHALL TALENTS AND CHARACTER. c ^73 

tary of one of the departments, or a foreign minister; 
and in addition to all this to have been thirty-four years 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
a court which has power to decide upon all the great pro- 
visions of the constitution, whether they rendered null a 
law of a State or of Congress, besides an extensive jurisdic- 
tion in cases arising between citizens, — I say, to have 
been under all these influences, must have produced a 
wonderful effect upon an intellect naturally strong and 
well balanced. 

We will now respectfully give our impressions of the 
organization of this distinguished judge. He was a tall 
man, of rather spare habit, and probably of a nervous, bil- 
ious, and sanguine temperament. His constitution was 
remarkably firm, and formerly he endured great physical 
efforts without injury. In after life he became more 
exclusively a man of hard study and deep reflection. 

Without ever having seen this great man, and merely 
from an examination of approved portraits of him, I ven- 
ture to form the following judgments of his cerebral devel- 
opment. The head is remarkable for its fine proportions, 
being a general full development ; but the model of it is 
such as to give it a strong preponderance to the higher 
sentiments and higher intellect. That the organ of com- 
parison predominated is evident both from length of 
fibre and peripheral expansion. Causality is also large. 
Individuality is well developed, and was doubtless quite 
active. The other perceptive organs appear not to have 
been remarkably large. 

The sincipital region is much larger than the basilar. 
The head is particularly well developed in all the region 
of the higher sentiments. Benevolence, reverence, firm- 



274 PHRENOLOGY. 

ness, conscientiousness, and ideality, are noticeably large, 
especially firmness and conscientiousness. The organs 
of self-esteem and love of approbation were evidently but 
moderate. His great general powers, (requiring large 
subjects for stimulus,) and particularly his benevolence 
and conscientiousness, acted more in giving a relish to 
public life, than his self-esteem, or love of approbation, or 
acquisitiveness. Such a man would not seek office, nor 
accept it unless for the pubMc good. The head not being 
large in the occipital region, it would not measure as large 
in circumference as many other heads of moderate intel- 
lectual organs, and, for a man of great and well balanced 
intellect, without strong propensities, I would not desire 
to see a larger head. 

Since the above was written, I have carefully exam- 
ined the remarkably accurate marble bust of Judge Mar- 
shall, by Frazee, from which it would appear that his 
head in the intellectual region is uncommonly large. 
From the ear to comparison is 5f inches, to eventuality 
5£, to individuality 5|-. The forehead is also broad, 
measuring not less than five inches across from the exter- 
nal angle of one eye to that of the other. From ear to 
ear is less than six inches. No other measurements could 
be made by callipers, which would indicate the size of 
the head. My judgment of the relative size of such 
organs, as are indicated by the bust, is as follows : Com- 
parison, predominant ; causality, individuality, locality, 
form, size, order, number, reverence, conscientiousness, 
firmness, ideality, large ; eventuality and language, small. 

The natural language of the intellectual organs ap- 
pears to indicate the greatest activity of a combination of 
individuality and the reflective faculties, as if investiga- 



JUDGE MARSHALL TALENTS AND CHARACTER. 275 

ting, defining, discriminating, and combining. Through 
this shines the mildness of benevolence, the respect of 
reverence, and the inflexibility of firmness and conscien- 
tiousness. 

We will now see how admirably his organization was 
fitted, not only to constitute a great judge, but such a 
judge as he is known to have been. 

I would remark here, that in giving the beau ideal of a 
judge, we must give that perfection of organization which 
is necessary to judgment. A judge seems by his very 
name to be Judgment individualized. With an intellect- 
ual region so large and well balanced, Judge Marshall 
had little difficulty in acquiring all the knowledge neces- 
sary to the formation of judgment; and his organ of com- 
parison gave him his vast power of comprehension and 
analysis, of contemplating a subject as a whole, and di- 
vesting it of all that had not an important baring upon 
the question to be decided. But intellect alone is not 
sufficient to constitute the judge. The feelings should 
all be active, but should act in harmony. There should 
be a large organ of conscientiousness. This is but the 
organ of a blind feeling, but it acts as a power in giving 
a strong desire to discover the truth and the whole truth, 
and in exciting the intellect to greater effort when in 
search of truth. This we have remarked was a very 
large organ in the head of Judge Marshall. Firmness 
and cautiousness were also large. The head runs high 
and is broad directly above the ear, giving room for 
large cautiousness, conscientiousness, and firmness. These 
gave a guardedness and steadiness to the progress of his 
investigations. With the organs of self-esteem and ap- 
probativeness moderate, he preferred the duties of a 



276 PHRENOLOGY. 

lawyer to those of public office, and he never felt the 
office of Chief Justice of the United States, except in 
its responsibility. His organs of reverence and benevo- 
lence being large, these, connected with his moderate 
self-esteem, rendered him a most patient listener. His 
ideality being rather more than an average organ, [he 
wrote poetry when a boy,] gave the finish to whatever he 
did, and, with reverence and conscientiousness, supplied 
the deficiency occasioned by small self-esteem, and saved 
him from stooping below the dignity of his situation. The 
smallness of his love of approbation rendered him deal 
to praise, and the smallness of his self-esteem and his 
large reverence and benevolence rendered him patient 
as a judge, and charitably inclined towards the counsel 
who addressed him This is such a man as the country 
needed, and such as the republic used for her benefit, 
when great talents were sought after. Such men as he 
will not reach high office in times, when office is bestow- 
ed with reference to. party service or party supremacy. 
In short, we behold in him a hard-working, untiring, 
powerful intellect, of such vast comprehension as to be 
equal to any reach. In its composition it is strong, well 
balanced, and perfect ; in its proportions there is little 
wanting, and nothing superfluous. He was not select- 
ed with any view of illustrating the domestic, or mere 
animal feelings ; and his history is sufficiently known 
to appreciate the remarks made upon his character, as a 
great, if not the greatest, judge of the age. 



GENERAL WASHINGTON. 



277 



CHAPTER XL. 

GENERAL WASHINGTON A SKETCH OF HIS CHARACTER 

AND TALENTS UPON PHRENOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



Figure XVII. — Head of Washington. 




I have not seen the views of any Phrenologist upon 
the character of him, whose memory holds the first place 
in the hearts of the whole nation. This great, but wel- 
come task I will attempt, availing myself of such facts 
as can be collected from the descriptions, busts, statues, 
and portraits of him to be obtained. All the leading 
events of his life are so well known, that it is unneces- 
sary to repeat them here. 
24 



278 



PHRENOLOGY. 



1. Temperament. — Judge Marshall observes, "that 
he was rather above the common size, his frame was 
robust, and his constitution vigorous, — capable of endur- 
ing great fatigue, and requiring a considerable degree of 
exercise for the preservation of his health ; his exterior 
created in the beholder the idea of strength united with 
manly gracefulness." From this, with the general ap- 
pearance of the most celebrated likenesses of him, I do 
not hesitate to say, that his temperament was sanguine. 
It was what Dr. Thomas would denominate the thoracic 
temperament, indicated by the large size of the chest, 
light complexion, &,c. Such a temperament can be 
sustained only by active life, and it furnishes a great 
stimulus to the cerebral organs. The head is large, but 
in very fine proportion to his large person. With so 
much of the sanguine in his constitution, the nervous 
system would not be likely to become diseasedly active. 

2. The quality of his brain must have been very fine, 
and there was no disease or low taint in it. The eye was 
of a deep blue, and peculiarly beautiful, and capable of 
great power of expression. 

3. External circumstances. — The force of these was 
quite remarkable. His father died when he was young, 
and he was left to the exercise of his own judgment, and 
to assist his mother in the management of the estate, in 
which he had the reversionary interest. He was of a 
highly respectable family, and had early the patronage of 
the first men in the state. He was engaged in the back 
woods as surveyor for some time before his 20th year, 
when he was appointed Adjutant General of the Virginia 
forces, and was sent by the Governor with despatches to 
the French commandant. He was next Aid to General 



GENERAL WASHINGTON. 279 

Braddock, and engaged in the French and Indian War. 
He was a member of the Old Congress at the opening of 
the war of the Revolution, and Commander-in-Chief dur- 
ing the whole war, and eight years President of the United 
States. His whole life was one of responsibility and great 
excitement, giving the most powerful stimulus to his ce- 
rebral organs. He had not a public and college educa- 
tion, but he was always in situations of excitement, by 
which the large organs educated themselves. He early 
learned the great art of forming judgments for himself, 
and acting upon them when formed. 

4. General form of the head. — The head was well de- 
veloped in all the regions, and remarkable for its excel- 
lent balance. The shape of the forehead is almost the 
beau ideal for great judgment and practical ability. It is 
not a forehead for abstractions, nor quiet reading. Men 
of such organizations as his, grow wise more by experi- 
ence and observation than by reading. The perceptive 
organs are in general very strong. His powers of obser- 
vation must have been remarkable. 

5. Organization, so far as it can be seen and conjec- 
tured by examination of his busts, &c. — Of the propen- 
sities he had enough to give great energy to his character. 
Combativeness and destructiveness were doubtless large 
and active, giving him courage and a natural impetuosity 
of temper, but acting in subordination to the higher sen- 
timents. Secretiveness was also large. His well-known 
prudence of character, was owing more to this, acting 
with a strong comparison, than to cautiousness. Self- 
esteem was large, but balanced as it was by large rever- 
ence, benevolence, and conscientiousness, and little influ- 
enced by approbativeness or acquisitiveness, there was 



280 PHRENOLOGY. 

nothing of the abuse of this feeling in his life, while it 
imparted to his character a most commanding and 
uniformly sustained dignity and self-respect. This, com- 
bined with his combativeness and destructiveness, gave 
him the natural feelings of a military commander. 

His love of approbation was no more than an average 
organ. Fame and glory were not words of peculiar 
charm in his ear. Hence, he was unmoved by flattery, 
and never sought office ; but he loved respect, and was 
always careful to deserve it. Through the whole life of 
Washington, we are every where impressed with his 
dignity and self-respect. This, with his large secretive- 
ness and large organ of order, and perceptive organs 
generally, rendered him attached to forms and ceremo- 
nies, and gave him a preference for the modes of worship 
of the Church of England. Had his organization been 
different in this particular, he would not have secured 
that universal respect, which every where was felt for his 
person and character. 

His firmness and conscientiousness were large organs. 
So were his benevolence, reverence, and hope. These 
kept his propensities in constant check ; and gave that 
high finish and lofty elevation to his moral character, 
which, connected with high station, rendered the manifes- 
tations of self-esteem an ornament, rather than a blemish. 
His marvellousness and imitation were the smallest of the 
sentiments. General Washington was slow to believe, 
and rather distrustful. He was devotional, but we hear 
little of his creed ; it was doubtless rational, and con- 
tained the essential Scripture doctrines : and he was a 
man whose manners were individual and peculiarly his 
own. He analyzed character and embraced excellence, 



GENERAL WASHINGTON. 281 

but never built his character upon any one human model. 
The organ of mirthfulness was small. 

We have now to speak of his intellect. We have 
already remarked its general features. His organ of 
comparison was predominant, and, acting more readily 
with the perceptive organs than with causality, he was 
judicious and practical. His causality was not so quick 
and vigorous an organ as his comparison. Hence he did 
not abound in the spontaneous reasons which flow in upon 
some minds, but he availed himself largely of reasons 
presented by other minds. Hence he was deliberate in 
his judgments, as much from necessity as principle, and 
he therefore in a manner of great condescension resorted 
to the aid of the larger causality of his friends around 
him ; but when all the reasons were presented he formed 
his judgments for himself. Judgment was the great 
ruling trait of his intellect, and the admirable balance 
of his feelings contributed quite as much to its results as 
his superior intellect. 

6. Talents.- — The intellectual organs are combined in 
a manner to constitute several kinds of talent. It is well 
known that he early became a surveyor ; this indicates 
the natural tendency of his mind. With his large con- 
scientiousness and comparison he would love the truth ; 
and if to this we add his large organ of number and 
locality, we have the elements of the mathematician. In 
this department he would have succeeded admirably. 
So also if we add the other large perceptive organs, we 
see the elements of an engineer, and a talented military 
commander. He would have been highly distinguished 
as an engineer. His views of great public works were 
extensive and judicious. His organ of language was 
24* 



282 PHRENOLOGY. 

moderate, and this would have retarded his success as a 
naturalist. 

7. Character. — Mirthfulness being small, and ideality 
but average, with large reverence and self-esteem, we 
have the grave, dignified, and useful character. In the 
combination of destructiveness, combativeness, self- 
esteem, reverence, firmness, large, we have the feelings 
of a military character. The same organization, with a 
little less of combativeness and destructiveness, and 
more studious and less active habits, (just such as would 
be compatible with advanced life,) would fit him for a 
President, by availing himself largely of the talents of 
others, who have more of partial, with less of general 
ability. In a private station the same organization would 
make him the dignified, industrious, high-minded, honest, 
punctual private gentleman. His head was high, and all 
the organs of an elevating tendency were large. This 
led him to respect rank, family, talents, order, and an 
energetic government of laws. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

THE CHARACTER AND TALENTS OF LAFAYETTE. 

All our conceptions of this great and good man are 
so delightfully blended with emotions of attachment, 
respect, and gratitude, that it seems to be a cold and 
irreverent undertaking, to apply the same rules of judg- 
ment to him as to other men. But to have his example 



LAFAYETTE. 283 

Figure XVIII. — Head of Lafatette. 




valuable, his character should be studied and understood ; 
to award to him qualities, which he did not possess, is an 
injustice to him and to ourselves, of no less magnitude 
than to deny to him that cluster of virtues so richly his 
own. His qualities were of that kind which will bear 
the scrutiny of rigid analysis, such as Phrenologists must 
always apply, or else prove recreant to their favorite sci- 
ence. I do not know that any Phrenologist ever availed 
himself of a critical inspection of his cerebral develop- 
ments, — if so, I believe the result has never been pub- 
lished. Neither is there to my knowledge a plaster cast 
of his whole head accurately taken which can now be 
inspected. The busts of him are characteristic, and 
probably sufficiently correct, for the formation of judg- 
ments of his organization in all the leading points, with 
an accuracy, which, taken in connexion with what we 
know of him, is sufficient for our present purposes. 



284 PHRENOLOGY. 

1. In youth he was tall and slender ; in advanced life 
he was less slender, but not corpulent. His chest was 
large, and his temperament sanguine and nervous, — an 
organization favorable to great activity of the cerebral 
organs. His brain too must have been of a very fine 
quality. 

The head was large, but in very fine proportion to his 
body. Its general form was indicative of length of fibre 
in the intellectual region ; and in the regions of the sen- 
timents and domestic feelings there was both considera- 
ble length and breadth of fibre. It would be charac- 
terized as a thin, long, high head, rather than as a broad, 
low head. There was no deficiency of the side organs, 
so far as they give energy and discretion to character. 
But so far as they are selfish in their nature, they were 
more than balanced by the higher sentiments. 

Analysis of organs. — The organs of the domestic 
feelings were large. His attachments to wife, friends, 
children, and home, were very strong, and at no place 
was it more delightful to see him, than at his own be- 
loved La-Grange, surrounded by his numerous descen- 
dants, relatives, and friends. 

The organ of courage or combatiyeness was large, and 
his personal courage and bravery were never doubted. 
This was a strong hereditary feeling. His ancestors were 
distinguished for courage. His father died fighting for 
his sovereign in the battle of Minden. In the language 
of Washington to Congress, (after the battle of Brandy- 
wine, where Lafayette fought and bled in our cause,) " he 
possesses a large share of bravery and military ardor." 
Secretiveness seems to have been well developed, but his 
cautiousness was not large. The prudence of character 



LAFAYETTE. 285 

awarded to him by Washington, and which belonged to 
him through life, was far less the result of cautiousness 
than of secretiveness, and that combination of intellec- 
tual organs, which is very peculiar to him. He certainly 
had but little acquisitiveness, the organ does not appear 
to have been large, and we see no manifestation of it 
through life. He inherited a princely fortune, and he 
needed only to take reasonable care of it. His disinter- 
estedness in this particular is evident from his stipulation 
with Mr. Deane to enter the American service. His 
self-respect, however, was no way deficient, as we might 
expect in a young nobleman of a family second only to 
that of royalty. He carefully stipulated for the commis- 
sion of a Major General, but for no emolument. He does 
not appear to have possessed an undue share of love of 
approbation, so characteristic of his nation. It was not 
for glory, that he left his country, his wife, his child, and 
his doting friends, at the age of nineteen, when to do it 
he had to fit out his own vessel, and to escape from the 
custody of the civil authorities, and risk his life, his 
fortune, and his honor, in the cause of a country foreign 
to his own. Neither was it any far-reaching, self-seeking 
prospect ; but other motives impelled him to the work, 
his conscientiousness and benevolence were excited, and 
these, with firmness, were the predominating feelings of 
his life. The sudden manner, in which he resolved to 
join the American cause, shows it to have been impulse, 
and not the cool calculation of reflection. It was at a 
time of life, too, in which the impulses are strong, and in 
him, large as were his feelings then compared with his 
intellect, we do not hesitate to avow that the determina- 
tion was made, and persisted in under the influence of 



286 PHRENOLOGY. 

these strong sentiments. (i At an entertainment given 
by his relative, the Marechal de Broglie, the commandant 
of the place, to the Duke of Gloucester, brother to the 
British king, and then a transient traveller through that 
part of France, he learns, as an incident of intelligence, 
received that morning by the English prince from Lon- 
don, that the Congress of Rebels, at Philadelphia, had 
issued a Declaration of Independence. A conversation 
ensues upon the causes, which have contributed to pro- 
duce this event, and upon the consequences which may 
be expected to flow from it. The imagination of La- 
fayette has caught, across the Atlantic tide, the spark 
emitted from the Declaration of Independence ; his heart 
has kindled at the shock, and, before he slumbers upon 
his pillow, he is resolved to devote his life and fortune 
to the cause. " * 

The injustice of the British king towards the colonies 
excited his conscientiousness, and his benevolence led him 
to sympathize with the injured party. These principles, 
thus excited and pained, aroused his firmness, combative- 
ness, and destructiveness, and determined him to join 
their cause. The more unequal and desperate, the stron- 
ger the feelings. When the American commissioners 
discouraged him, by recounting to him the unpromising 
condition of their cause, the answer of Lafayette is, 
i( The more desperate the cause, the greater need has it 
of my services ; and if Mr. Deane has no vessel for my 
passage, I shall purchase one myself, and will traverse 
the ocean with a selected company of my own." 

He doubtless felt the more strongly the wrongs of 
America, from the great strength of his self-esteem and 

* Oration by J. Q. Adams. 



LAFAYETTE. 287 

his benevolence. There was never a champion of lib- 
erty and of human rights, without a large share of self- 
esteem. This is heightened by firmness, conscientious- 
ness, and benevolence. A revolutionary organization is 
one of a large head in general, and large combativeness, 
destructiveness, self-esteem, firmness, and benevolence, 
and small reverence, with the residue of the organization 
sufficiently equal to produce no imbecility. 

This was not the organization of Lafayette, nor indeed 
of the master spirits of the American Revolution. He, 
like Washington, had large reverence and conscientious- 
ness; his sentiments, when uttered in favor of liberty, or 
against tyranny, would be strong, but he would never be 
ultra in his measures. 

His head was of the form which fitted him for a mili- 
tary commander in a just cause ; but his scruples of con- 
science would prevent his enlisting in any cause indis- 
criminately. It must have been just such a cause as 
that of American Independence, or as the first stages of 
the French Revolution. 

His reverence and attachments being large, they gave 
to his notions of government a bias, which kd him to 
believe in the union of what was heterogeneous in their 
nature. He was all alive to the rights of mankind and 
to rational liberty. This was not only congenial to the 
constitution of his mind, but was a sentiment deeply 
fixed by a five years' struggle with the Americans, where 
the rights of man were a constant theme of discussion. 
His was not a great, far-reaching intellect, original in its 
combinations, and vast in its comprehension. The re- 
flective organs are not large. Mr. Adams remarks, 
11 there are in some men qualities which dazzle and con- 



288 PHRENOLOGY. 

sume to little or no valuable purpose. They seldom 
belong to the benefactors of mankind. They were not 
the qualities of Washington or Lafayette." A Phreno- 
logist understands this. Lafayette after five years' expe- 
rience in America could not, like a great statesman, go 
home and infuse such a change into his own government, 
as would secure liberty to the people under it, and also 
preserve their respect and obedience. Neither his intellect 
nor his feelings fitted him for this task ; — a task, indeed, 
to which few have ever been equal. His conscientious- 
ness, self-esteem, firmness, and combativeness, induced 
him to prepare a Declaration of Rights, copied substan- 
tially from an American form, and to propose and secure 
a constitutional form of government, which guaranteed 
the rights and repsesentation of the people. But the 
mode of representation was badly contrived. It was a 
union in one body, of the clergy, nobles, and third estate 
in a National Assembly, without check from any other ; 
and this soon assumed all the powers of government, 
leaving little but an hereditary crown upon the head of 
Louis XVI. Mr. Adams remarks, that " a hereditary 
monarchy, surrounded by popular institutions, presented 
itself to the imagination of Lafayette, as a practical form 
of government, nor is it certain that even to his last days 
he ever abandoned his persuasion. The element of 
hereditary monarchy in this constition was not congenial 
to it. The prototype, from which the whole fabric had 
been drawn, had no such element in its composition. A 
feeling of generosity, of compassion, of commiseration with 
the unfortunate prince, then upon the throne, who had 
been his sovereign, and for his ill-fated family, mingled 
itself, perhaps unconsciously to himself, with his well rea- 



LAFAYETTE. 289 

soned faith in the abstract principles of a republican 
creed. The total abolition of the monarchical feature 
undoubtedly belonged to his theory, but the family of 
Bourbon had still a strong hold on the affections of the 
French people, and the same doctrine, which played upon 
the fancy and crept upon the kind-hearted Lafayette, was 
adopted by a large majority of the National Assembly, 
sanctioned by the suffrages of its most intelligent, virtu- 
ous, and patriotic members, and was finally embodied in 
that royal democracy, the result of their labors, sent forth 
to the world under the guaranty of numberless oaths, as 
the constitution of France for all after time." How 
plainly do we see in this the action of his large benevo- 
lence, reverence, and adhesiveness, too strong for his re- 
flective powers. 

Having sworn to support this royal democracy, history 
shows with what a wonderful attachment, firmness, and 
deep sense of duty, he struggled to maintain it from 1789 
to the dethronement of Louis XVI., 10th of August, 1792. 

Destructiveness was always a well regulated principle 
in Lafayette, never manifesting the slightest abuse at 
anv time. When a great majority were " wound up by 
that war of conflicting interests and absorbing passions, 
enkindled by a great convulsion of the social system, 
Lafayette alone is seen to preserve his fidelity to the king. 
to the constitution, and to his country." 

His hope and marvellousness were strong principles, 
especially the former. His hope never failed him. 
whether in prison, or in whatever situation his eventful 
life exhibits him. 

We have now passed in review all those feelings, which 
appear conspicuous in his character, and we see in their 
25 



290 PHRENOLOGY. 

combination every thing that is kind, respectful, just, 
liberal, elevated, disinterested, bold, heroic, and tender. 
His sentiments are always elevated and pure. In that 
one noble wish, which he uttered for our happy Union, 
we behold the outgoings of his noble feelings, " May this 
immense temple of freedom, " said he, "ever stand a 
lesson to oppressors, an example to the oppressed, a sanc- 
tuary for the rights of mankind! And may these happy 
United States attain that complete splendor and prosper- 
ity, which will illustrate the blessings of their govern- 
ment, and, for ages to come, rejoice the departed souls 
of its founders." 

It remains now to speak of the intellect and talents of 
this great man. The forehead of Lafayette rapidly re- 
treated, and gave an appearance of smaller reflective 
organs than he possessed. I measured the organs of 
individuality and comparison, on the most approved bust 
of him, and found them to measure from the ear about 5f 
inches each. 

The average of Scottish heads, as estimated by Mr. G. 
Combe, would be less than 5 inches from ear to individ- 
uality, and the bust of Marshall measures at the same 
point but 5-J inches, and he measures but -J of an inch 
more than Lafayette from ear to comparison. An inexpe- 
rienced Phrenologist would not be likely to give an indi- 
vidual of such an organization credit for as much reflec- 
tive power as he would possess. I would classify the 
organs as follows: — individuality, predominant; confi- 
guration, size, weight, color, large, or very large ; locality, 
predominant; order, very large; number, moderate; 
eventuality, rather large ; language, very large ; compari- 
son and causality, rather full, or full. 



LAFAYETTE. 291 

The very large size of the perceptive organs generally 
enabled him to observe with great accuracy, and, united 
with his strong feelings, would give him a strong tendency 
to active life, rather than study and abstract reflection. 
He would remember individual countenances with great 
ease, and attend to details. This was strikingly true of 
him. He lived a long life and through a remarkable 
period, — he took an active part in three revolutions — 
was five years in the solitude of a prison ; yet what has 
he written beyond what he was compelled to write in the 
discharge of his duties, or in the gratification of his social 
and domestic feelings? He took no part in all the strug- 
gle which succeeded the downfall of the royal -democracy, 
except as a representative of the people, until 1830. No 
book contains his views of government fresh from his 
own mind. In the language of Mr. Adams, " he discov- 
ered no new principles of politics, or of morals, he in- 
vented nothing in science, he disclosed no new phenom- 
enon in the laws of nature." Washington said of him, 
a few months after his arrival in this country, " he is 
sensible and discreet, and has made great proficiency in 
our language." This was true ; he had tact and good 
sense, and felt as a gentleman should feel, and was dis- 
creet in his manners ; but had he possessed the large 
reflective organs of Franklin, he would have left the 
records of their action, in many large volumes, upon 
science, morals, politics, &c. &c. 

The organs of locality, and individuality, and order are 
large ; these, with his domestic feelings, would give him 
great delight in home and the management of his farm at 
La-Grange. He would also be a most delightful com- 
panion, full of facts and incidents, which touch the feel- 



292 



PHRENOLOGY. 



ings and win the heart. He too would be exceedingly 
industrious and attentive to the wants and rights of 
others. He would be a most accomplished gentleman, 
not merely because he had always been accustomed to 
the best society, but because he had that inbred politeness 
which depends upon the organization. In quiet times 
his talents were equal to any executive station, not ex- 
cepting the highest ; but in revolutions, although he had 
all the courage and firmness requisite for the boldest 
undertakings, he had neither that affluence of expedient, 
nor suppleness of principle, which would enable him to 
act a leading part ; and his self-respect would not brook 
an inferior station. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

DR. FRANKLIN, HIS CHARACTER AND TALEJSTS A PHILO- 
SOPHER, A POLITICIAN, MORALIST, AND MAN OF BUSINESS, 
PRUDENT, AMIABLE, FASCINATING, HONEST, AND PERSE- 
VERING. 

A full delineation of the organization of this great 
man would be a practical commentary upon nearly all 
the primitive faculties of our nature. 

He inherited from. both his parents an excellent con- 
stitution, remarkable for the equal development of all its 
parts. It would be difficult to assign to him a distinctive 
temperament, as it was an equally balanced combination 
of the constituent portions which belong to them all ; in 
youth sanguine and nervous, in age nervous and lymphatic. 
His digestive powers were always remarkably good, and 



DR. FRANKLIN. 



293 



he became somewhat corpulent in old age, but while 
active and in the meridian of life his sanguineous system 
was strong, and he possessed a good share of muscular 
power and activity, and was capable of great and long 
sustained mental and physical exertion. 

2. The quality of the brain was good. His eye was 
animated, and his whole appearance indicated great spon- 
taneous activity of the cerebral organs. 

Figure XIX. — Head of Dr. Franklin. 




3. The head was very large, and remarkably developed 
in all the regions. The frontal lobe was immense, and 
yet seems perfectly balanced by the sentiments and pro- 
pensities. It is of the third class of heads, from which 
we may expect a great diversity of character, and variety 
of genius. He would feel no difficulty in attending to 
many pursuits at the same time, and change from one 
25* 



294 PHRENOLOGY. 

pursuit to another. Hence we see him as a printer, a 
trader, a postmaster, a publisher, an editor, an almanac 
maker, a philosopher, a moralist, and a statesman, — at 
home in all, and never seeming burdened by his labors. 

I examined the bust of Dr. Franklin sold in the shops. 
It is larger than life, but probably the proportions are 
preserved with a good degree of accuracy. The relative 
size of the organs, so far as they can be detailed, are 
nearly as follows : — Alimentiveness and destructiveness, 
moderate ; amativeness, phifoprogenitiveness, adhesive- 
ness, inhabitiveness, combativeness, secretiveness, and 
acquisitiveness can be judged of only from the general 
form of the regions, — doubtless, full or large ; construc- 
tiveness, cautiousness, and approbativeness, large; self- 
esteem, average ; benevolence, reverence, firmness, con- 
scientiousness, hope, marvellousness, ideality, large ; 
mirthfulness and imitation, very large. All the percep- 
tive organs, except time, tune, and eventuality, were 
large : the reflective organs are very large. 

Organization with analysis and comments. — His de- 
structiveness and alimentiveness were evidently small. 
He was indifferent to the pleasures of the table, living 
often upon crackers and other simple food from choice. 
He also formed a resolution, to which he adhered for a 
long time, to eat nothing that ever had possessed life, 
believing at the same time, that the capture of fish even 
was a sort of murder committed without provocation. 

His attachments were evidently strong. He dwells 
much, in his own account of his life, upon his early friend- 
ships. I think, however, that his social feelings arose as 
much from the extreme activity of his organs in general, 
and their strong tendency to sympathize with the active 



DR. FRANKLIN. 295 

organs of others, as in the large size of adhesiveness. 
His early attachments to place were certainly not strong, 
tor he seems to have left his native city without regret, 
and he wandered much in the early part of life. His 
combativeness was evidently somewhat active, manifest- 
ing itself with his reflective faculties in argument, or with 
mirthfulness in his wit, or ridicule, or humor. He re- 
marks of himself, that he was much given to disputation 
when voung, and was induced to leave it off because it 
involved him in difficulties. He then adopted the maxim 
of Pope : 

M Men must be taught as if you taught them not, 
And things unknown proposed as things forgot." 

Secretiveness was certainly sufficiently active to give 
a balance to his character, but never manifested abuse. 
It was, however, less active than his love of approbation, 
or conscientiousness, for he relates with unequalled frank- 
ness the whole of his early life, not in the least attempt- 
ing to hide its faults. Acquisitiveness was certainly 
active, and he was for many years exceedingly devoted 
to business, and accumulated a large estate. But in 
early life he seems to have been comparatively indifferent 
to accumulation, though he was never prodigal. He is 
said never to have spent a farthing in folly or dissipa- 
tion. His maxim at the age of thirty was, " The use 
of money is all the advantage there is in having money." 
The accumulation of wealth was submitted to as a neces- 
sary means of enjoying the gratification of philosophy. 
Hence we see that as soon as he had accumulated as 
much as he thought of advantage, he retired from busi- 
ness to his favorite scientific pursuits. His reputation as 
a philosopher was nearly all acquired after the age of 
forty-two. 



296 PHRENOLOGY. 

The construct™ eness of Dr. Franklin has manifested 
its activity in various ways. He inherited this from his 
father, " who was versed in mechanics, and could upon 
occasion use the tools of a variety of trades." Frank- 
lin's father adopted a most rational method, not only of 
instructing his son, but of discovering the peculiarity of 
his genius, by taking him sometimes to see masons, 
coopers, braziers, joiners, and other mechanics, em- 
ployed at their work. " I have since," says Franklin, 
" in consequence of these visits, derived no small pleas- 
ure from seeing skilful workmen handle their tools ; and 
it has proved of considerable benefit to have acquired 
thereby sufficient knowledge to be able to make little 
things for myself, when I have had no mechanic at hand, 
and to construct small machines for my experiments, 
while the idea I have conceived has been fresh, and 
strongly impressed on my imagination. 

Cautiousness was evidently an active organ ; his head 
was broad at that region, and we find him much addicted 
to provide against impending danger. His public meas- 
ures and recommendations are eminently precautional. 
He warns the citizens of Philadelphia against the dan- 
gers of attack from a foreign enemy, and against acci- 
dents by fire. All his maxims have a strong bearing that 
way. Hence he remarks that he had gone through life 
so happily, that he should be quite willing to live it over 
again, claiming only the author's privilege, of correcting 
the second edition ; a thought which he afterwards 
changed, and introduced into his epitaph. 

His love of approbation was evidently very strong, 
acting with his benevolence and conscientiousness. 
Hence he sought to obtain a great name by being emi- 



DR. FRANKLIN. 297 

nently useful, and contributing to the happiness of man- 
kind. It is true his head was large, and his conceptions 
were so vast and comprehensive, as to denote his superi- 
ority from the first. But he was certainly exceedingly 
gratified with praise. It evinced no small activity of 
this feeling, to undertake the writing of his own life. 
His reverence was also active, for he was especially de- 
lighted with the notice of the great. He speaks of hav- 
ing " appeared before kings." To this circumstance we 
must attribute much of the instruction, which so con- 
stantly flowed from his conversation. 

I have presumed his self-esteem to have been no more 
than average. I have strong evidence of this, from a 
review of his life. How different was he from General 
Washington in this particular. There is not in any of 
his writings or sentiments the least appearance of anxiety 
about personal respect and dignity. He could not fail 
to know his superiority over others, and his taste would 
lead him to prefer good society. But I see no indica- 
tions of pride. He never pushed himself forward. He 
had not a particle of audacity, and he seems almost sur- 
prised at himself, that he had ever risen so high, and 
made so much noise in the world as he had done. His 
life is said to have been a perpetual lecture against the 
idle, the extravagant, and the proud. He eventually 
arrived at the highest honors. But had his wonderful in- 
tellect been supported by the grave, dignified self-respect 
of Washington, all the early part of his life would have 
been different, and his march to high places would have 
been much more rapid. Washington's self-respect never 
would have permitted him to write his own early life and 
give all its follies and weaknesses. But Franklin had 



298 PHRENOLOGY. 

the wisdom of an angel, with the feelings of an ordinary 
man. He was sometimes egotistical it is true, but it was 
the manifestation of approbativeness. 

Benevolence, &c. — The general, full, and equal devel- 
opment of the higher sentiments, with his small destruo 
tiveness, would incline him to humanity and tolerance. 
He thought criminal codes far too sanguinary, — denied 
the principle, that punishments may be made examples to 
deter from crime, calling the reply of the judge to a con- 
demned horse-stealer, that he was " not to be hanged for 
stealing the horse, but that horses may not be stolen, 5 ' 
brutal and unreasonable. He was opposed to privateering 
and to the slave trade. His benevolence was certainly a 
remarkable trait in his character ; with his large appro- 
bativeness and conscientiousness, it produced that mild- 
ness so remarkable in his manners. Many public insti- 
tutions experienced his well-timed liberality. His whole 
life was but a great and ardent desire to be useful. 

His reverence was a strong principle; but it acted with 
his intellectual organs in giving a great veneration for 
the sayings and writings of the great and wise of past 
ages. His organization was highly favorable to an anti- 
quarian taste. 

His head rises rather high at firmness, and his perse- 
verance in all the great undertakings of his life show 
the presence of the feeling. It however always acted in 
harmony with benevolence and conscientiousness. Hence 
whatever he undertook was pursued. This was true of 
his philosophical experiments and his public negotiations. 
The versatility of his pursuits operated somewhat against 
the feeling, but this arose from the great number of his 
large and active organs, and his uncommonly voluminous 
head. 



DR. FRANKLIN. 299 

His conscientiousness was evidently a strong principle. 
He carefully enumerates the great errors of his life, many 
of which he repaired in the best way he could. His 
benevolence and adhesiveness excited him to believe in 
the promises of his friend Collins, and he loaned him 
money that was entrusted to him by Vernon. But he 
yielded only at Collins's continued importunity and prom- 
ises to repay. And having done it, he was for a long 
time exceedingly alarmed lest Collins should fail to make 
good his promise. He enumerates this " violation of 
trust as one of the first errors of his life." His conscien- 
tiousness shows its activity in the case of Miss Reed, to 
whom he had been inconstant during his abode in Lon- 
don, and he made amends by marrying her after his 
return, although she had been led to marry another man 
in his absence, that marriage being invalid on account 
of her husband's having anotherlwife. 

Hope was strong through life. In no instance do we 
hear of his gloom or dejection ; this assisted to spread 
over his countenance that cheerfulness which always 
characterized it. He was certainly as remarkable an 
instance of happiness, as of transcendent talents. 

His marvellousness was large and active. It was this, 
together with his large intellect, which gave him such a 
thirst for knowledge; " his curiosity was unbounded." 
That he was credulous appears from the readiness with 
which he believed the promises of Sir William Keith. 
But he was then young, inexperienced, and exceedingly 
anxious to get established in business, and flattered by 
the attentions and promises of Sir William. Early in life 
his religious views were rather skeptical, but afterwards 
he seems to have believed in the leading Christian doc- 



300 PHRENOLOGY. 

trines. His deep-searching intellect would see the fallacy 
of many of the superstitions current in the world ; and 
when we begin to doubt, it as much evinces the activity 
of marvellousness to believe every thing false, as to be- 
lieve every thing true ; it is thus we often see people 
rushing from one extreme to the other, believing all or 
rejecting all. 

His ideality was large, and we find him indulging in 
poetry early in life. His first compositions were of this 
character. The perfect, the beau ideal, the pure always 
delighted him. The polished style of Addison he made hi s 
model. The simple style of his waitings is to be accounted 
for from the structure of his intellect. 

His mirthf ulness is a very fully developed organ, and 
its influence upon all the manifestations of his mind is 
quite apparent. It is this which lends a great part of 
the exquisite charm which his writings possess. His 
stories and his sayings abound in rich humor. His 
memory seemed to possess a strong grasp upon any thing 
ludicrous or singular. Any one who reads his life will 
see how readily he gathers up the ludicrous incidents, 
and singular conditions of his early life, and the pleasure 
he seems to take in dilating upon all the minute particu- 
lars : his naratives have all the interest of Don Quixote 
or Gil Bias. He recounts with peculiar delight his first 
appearance in Philadelphia in his working dress, covered 
with dirt, and his pockets stuffed with shirts and stock- 
ings, his three rolls of bread under his arms, his going 
into a quaker meeting-house and falling asleep, &c. It 
was his humor, always delicate and refined, combined 
with ideality and mirthfulness, which gave the principal 
interest and attraction to those little pieces, which he so 
frequently sent to the press. 



DR. FRANKLIN. 301 

His imitation appears large upon the bust, and it was 
doubtless very active. It was to this that he was indebt- 
ed for his constant improvement until late in life, and his 
ability to suit himself to any society. We have several 
striking instances of its action, in connexion with his 
mirthfulness, when late in life; as in the case of his imi- 
tation of Scripture style in the parable against persecution, 
and his African speech on the slave trade, in ridicule of 
a speech made in Congress on this question by a mem- 
ber from Georgia. So perfect were these imitations, that 
many looked in the Scriptures for the parable, and others 
searched ancient libraries for the pretended African 
speech. 

We have thus examined the affective faculties in detail, 
and it must have occurred to the reader that few individ- 
uals have manifested so frequently, strongly, and dis- 
tinctly so many of the primitive feelings. He was a large 
headed boy, and was precocious in his feelings, as well 
as intellect, and it is fortunate that his birth was so 
obscure, and that organs tending to such spontaneous 
activity had so little to excite them. Children of the 
organization of young Franklin, born in these days of 
great excitement, where books abound every where, soon 
become morbidly excitable. Their heads consume the 
energies of the whole system, and they are nipped as it 
were by the frost, while yet in the early blossom. Dr. 
Franklin remarks, " that he had often regretted, that 
when he was young and had such a thirst for knowledge, 
that no more books were within his reach." I answer, 
that to this circumstance, probably, are we indebted for 
the continuance of his life and health, and the long bril- 
liant light of his great genius. 
26 



302 PHRENOLOGY. 

We will now notice his splendid intellectual organiza- 
tion. The whole anterior lobe is very large, the percep- 
tive and reflective organs were both large. This is a 
rare combination, and where we find it, and other things 
equal, we find a highly gifted individual. His early em- 
ployment of type-setting, gave great exercise to his per- 
ceptive organs, and that they were active appears from 
his own statement. " My extraordinary quickness in 
composing always procured me such work as was most 
urgent." His powers of observation were quite remarka- 
ble, but I think that for this he was as much indebted 
to the spontaneous activity of his reflecting organs, con- 
stantly hungry as they were for some subject on which 
to feast, as to his perceptive organs. His observations 
were not confined, nor indeed principally directed, to the 
external physical qualities and relations of objects, but 
he was constantly tracing out causes and comparing 
them. It is not necessary to go into a detailed examina- 
tion of the perceptive organs; they are quite remarkable 
for their general fulness. Language appears large, and 
it is known that he acquired several languages after he 
was far along in life. He was not, however, a fluent 
speaker ; but I attribute that more to the infrequency of 
his attempts, the moderate size of his eventuality, and 
the peculiarities of his mental constitution, than to his 
insufficient power of language. His speeches were usu- 
ally short and very much to the purpose. Had his event- 
uality been a very large organ, and had he been trained 
to parliamentary debate, or the bar> he would have been 
able, and perhaps inclined to pour out a speech of any 
ength. Individuality was large, and his power in this 
organ seems much greater than in eventuality. He never 



DR. FRANKLIN. 303 

attempted to write history. Anecdotes and humorous 
stories, so far as they gratified mirthfulness, were remem- 
bered. It is said of him that " he was qualified to pene- 
trate into every field of science, and his unremitted dili- 
gence left no field of knowledge unexplored. His curios- 
ity was unbounded ; his inquiries extended over the face of 
nature, but he appeared most interested in the study of 
man. Truth was the sole object of his researches." But 
he did not explore the fields of knowledge merely to gather 
together rude materials. He was more remarkable for his 
powers of deep thought and reflection, than for the extent 
of his knowledge. What he gathered was never repro- 
duced with the original stamp upon it ; it returned pol- 
ished and enriched with the peculiarities of his own 
genius. It is said of him, " nothing passed through his 
hands without improvement. No person went into his 
company without gaining wisdom. His sagacity was 
SO sharp and his scientific knowledge so various, that 
whatever might be the profession or occupation of those 
with whom he conversed, he could meet them upon their 
own ground. He could enliven every conversation with 
an anecdote, and conclude it with a moral. By a judi- 
cious division and appropriation of time, he acquired the 
art of doing every thing advantageously, and his amuse- 
ments were of a nature that never militated with the 
main objects of his pursuits. From every situation he 
extracted something useful for himself and others. He 
turned every incident of his life to some valuable account, 
deriving therefrom experience and caution." 



304 



PHRENOLOGY, 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

AN AMBITIOUS CHARACTER, WITH THE TALENTS OF A 
POLITICIAN. 

Figure XX. — A Fancy Head. 




Figure XX. is an antique fancy head, whose organ- 
ization indicates an ambitious man. I will suppose him 
to possess an active temperament and fine quality of 
brain, with a large head. He would be active, and pos- 
sessed of superior power, destined to no middle flight. It 
may be interesting to delineate the course of a man with 
such an organization, when devoted to political life and 
advancement under the influence of our free institutions. 



AN AMBITIOUS CHARACTER. 305 

The organization in general is full and finely balanced. 
The organs designated are very large, yet do not appear 
as protuberances. They are by situation in those points 
of the head where they would of course be large, if the 
head were of this geneial model. It will be observed 
that it is wide and rather low in the frontal sincipital 
region, with a considerable elevation and elongation at 
the sincipital posterior section, with a broad forehead, 
full at the centre. The side organs are large, especially 
acquisitiveness, secretiveness, and combativeness. Of 
these secretiveness is the most central, and is the largest 
organ in a region characterized for general fulness. 

Self-esteem and love of approbation are both very 
large ; inhabitiveness and philoprogenitiveness are large 
and in a region of large and active organs ; firmness is 
also quite large; these, except the last, are all selfish. 
Benevolence and reverence, and conscientiousness are 
by no means sufficiently strong to counterbalance them ; 
such a man therefore would be likely to think of himself 
in all things. Causality, comparison, and all the intellec- 
tual organs are large ; but among them comparison is 
decidedly the largest. It would be constantly in the 
service of self, — on the committee of ways and means, — 
maturing and executing plans of self-aggrandizement. 
But the next question occurs, in what way would such 
an individual seek to gratify his selfish feelings ? Would 
it be by accumulating wealth in a private station, or 
would he be better gratified in a public station ? It is a 
law of mind, that the organs will be active in harmony 
with each other. Love of approbation would fill his 
conceptions with the delights of public notice and office. 
This would also gratify self-esteem by the respect it would 
26* 



306 PHRENOLOGY. 

secure. Self-esteem might be reasoned into satisfaction 
by suggesting that wealth is very much respected, but 
still he would be loth to desert his powerful and impor- 
tunate near neighbour, approbativeness. 

At last we may suppose the difficulty settled by a stipu- 
lation, which exercises acquisitiveness, secretiveness, 
approbativeness, and self-esteem, and at the same time, 
furnishes employment for firmness and comparison, and 
all the rest of the organs. A high office, to which is 
attached a respectable salary, must be sought, and se- 
cured. To obtain this would require a great share of 
comparison, secretiveness, love of approbation, and per- 
severance ; when obtained, self-esteem and acquisitive- 
ness would be gratified. 

What would be the probable course which a young 
man of such an organization would pursue, starting as 
most young men do in this country from small begin- 
nings ? Suppose the legal profession should happen to 
be the pursuit of his choice, he would enter upon it with 
great industry and perseverance, and in a few years he 
would find himself, no one could tell how, at the head of 
the practice in his county, and spoken of by all, as a 
young man of great perseverance, untiring industry, 
and fine talents. He would be popular, and his friends 
would be numerous throughout the county. His own 
town or district would elect him a representative to the 
legislature. Here he would find a field open to him 
congenial to his taste. He would be untiring in his 
exertions, especially out of the house, and would become 
acquainted with all and enter into the views and plans of 
all ; he would help them and they him ; all this, under 
cover of secretiveness, would be unseen, unsuspected, 



AN AMBITIOUS CHARACTER. 307 

yet felt every where. Those who converse with him, 
would feel as if they had parted with all they knew, by a 
most delightful process, and when they come to examine 
carefully what had been given in return, would be sur- 
prised to find that they had been flattered and felt ex- 
tremely comfortable. 

It is unnecessary to pursue farther the course of a man 
with such an organization. He will as certainly con- 
tinue to advance from one point to another as the sun in 
the horizon. It will in time come to be a sentiment, 
that he will have whatever he wants. His organization 
so far harmonizes with the greatest numbers, that he has 
an intuitive perception of their sentiments. And as he 
cannot excite their reverence, gratitude, and sense of 
justice, he appeals to their selfish principles. He incul- 
cates, as one of the grand principles, to reward faithful 
party service, and that the laborer is worthy of his hire. 
Offices belong to our friends, the faithful of the party. 
Combativeness and adhesiveness, those strong principles 
with the greatest numbers, are excited ; all are regarded 
as either friends or enemies. 

Another principle, suggested by self-esteem, is that 
inferiors must submit to the plans of superiors, so far as 
the distribution of office is to be made among the politi- 
cal laborers. But the people, — the dear people, are 
above all ! and their wishes are to be studied with the 
greatest care, and never to be deserted ! 

The next inquiry is, how will such men discharge the 
trust confided to them 1 It must be recollected that they 
seldom get the highest offices, in times of great trial and 
general anxiety. It is only when things go along 
smoothly, and common talents are all that are required. 



308 PHRENOLOGY. 

In warlike and revolutionary times, men like Washing- 
ton, who prefer private life, but who for the public good 
accept office, will be brought forward. It is only when 
the ship of state sails quietly over a smooth sea, and patri- 
otism slumbers, that men may gamble for the chances of 
manning and steering her. In such times the ordinary 
duties will be very well performed by mere politicians ; 
while higher office remains in the gift of the people, it 
will not be for their interest to betray their trust, and 
when the highest is obtained, and all selfish purposes 
are gratified, and debts of party and personal service 
and attachment are discharged, from the patronage 
of the government, the respect and the praise of their 
countrymen is still desirable. They will therefore have 
no interest to betray their trust. Such are substantially 
the traits of character which we must expect to find in 
ambitious men, who come into the highest offices under 
mere party supremacy. This is^ placing government in 
the hands of those who have a passion for governing. 
The people, like the visitors of a picture gallery, only 
see and feel the effect, and these are the artists, who, 
with the most care, study not to improve but to gratify 
their tastes ; they are at once the servants and rulers of 
the people ! 



MICHAEL ANGELO. 



309 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

MICHAEL ANGELO BUONAROTI TALENTS OF A PAINTER, 

SCULPTOR, ARCHITECT, ETC. CHARACTER OF A FIRM, 
HONEST, STERN, INDEPENDENT, INDUSTRIOUS, BUT IRRI- 
TABLE MAN. 

Figure XXI. — Head of Michael Angelo. 




Figure XXI. is a drawing of the head of Michael 
Angelo Biwnaroti, copied from an engraving, which was 
taken from an original picture by himself. It must have 
been somewhat flattered, or else his head was one of the 
most remarkable the world has ever known. It runs 
high, and is exceedingly large in the sincipital region. 



310 PHRENOLOGY. 

The intellect is immense, yet the region of the affective 
faculties is fully equal to it. From another and side view 
of him, now before me, it would appear that the head 
was quite large in the occipital region, indicating great 
energy in several of the propensities. Destructiveness 
was small, but adhesiveness, inhabitiveness, and com- 
bativeness are large. Constructiveness is very large ; 
approbativeness and self-esteem were predominant ; be- 
nevolence, reverence, firmness, conscientiousness, hope, 
marvellousness, ideality, and imitation are very large. 

In the intellectual region the lower row of the percep- 
tive organs, and the reflective organs, are particularly 
large, the fullness at the side of the head back of mirth- 
fulness is not all to be placed to ideality. His compari- 
son and causality were remarkably large, occupying a 
large space in the frontal region. This is frequently the 
case where the upper and middle region of the forehead 
appear very voluminous ; individuality, form, size, weight, 
color, locality, and order are very large ; eventuality is 
full, and language is large. 

The countenance would indicate great activity in the 
perceptive organs. The corrugators appear large and 
accustomed to action. His general look is that of great 
gravity, austerity, and self-respect, and not a little like 
irritability and disgust at the grovelling views and con- 
ceptions of the world around him. With such talents con- 
nected with firm health, what might not a man accom- 
plish ? He would be a universal genius. He might 
have excelled as an orator, a poet, a philosopher, a man 
of learning, and in all the arts of design. His sentiments 
would greatly predominate over his other propensities, 
and when not vexed and irritated, his feelings would be 



MICHAEL ANGELO. 311 

lofty, grave, and refined, and his conceptions would be 
strongly tinctured with reverence, ideality, and wonder. 
Yet chastened constantly by comparison, they would be 
in good keeping, and such as could be brought forth with 
great majesty and effect. But so different would his 
exalted, noble, and expansive views be from all the world 
around him, that he would be constantly thwarted and 
checked in his desires, and feel the mortification of sub- 
mission to those of whose inferiority he could not but be 
deeply conscious. This would sometimes engage him in 
difficulties, and increase the irritability of his temper. 
His destructiveness being small, and his conscientious- 
ness, and v benevolence, and reverence large, he would not 
be inclined to gratify his ambition by the destruction of 
the rights of others. His ambition would go along with 
his conscientiousness, reverence, and ideality, and call 
into aid the higher and lower intellect, in the arts of 
design. His propelling principles are too strong to be 
satisfied with the life of literature and retirement, else he 
would have been one of the greatest poets of any age. 

We have given our impressions of him, as indicated by 
his organization and physiognomy. How far do they 
agree with his life, as we have extracted it from the most 
approved writers in the following pages. 

He was born in the year 1474, of an ancient and illus- 
trious family. At the time of his birth his father was 
governor of the castle Chiusi and Caprese. Michael 
Angelo was put to nurse with the wife of one of the 
masons of the quarries, near the place where his father 
resided, and used jestingly to attribute his excellence as 
a sculptor, to having imbibed with his milk a love for the 
chisels and mallet of his foster-father. His father was 



312 PHRENOLOGY. 

poor, but of illustrious descent. He was placed at a 
grammar-school, but he preferred drawing to study, and 
snatched every opportunity for that purpose. The pro- 
fession of an artist being at this period in little estima- 
tion, the pride of the father and uncle was shocked at the 
notion of his son's following the arts as a trade, and they 
therefore sought not only by persuasion, but by chastise- 
ment to check his drawing taste. [This discloses the 
family pride, and shows the stimulus of opposition acting 
upon great firmness and combativeness, and it added fuel 
to the flame.] His father finding it impossible to stem 
his son's inclinations, at last consented to his becoming 
a painter, and he was placed under the most eminent 
painter in Italy. He early 'displayed great talent; one 
by one, his fellow pupils were surpassed, and it was not 
long before he ventured to criticise the designs of his 
master. 

His progress under his master was that of a genius, 
frequently producing drawings of great merit. It was 
not long before they were noticed by Lorenzo de Medici, 
who became a judicious patron, and by means of whom 
he formed an acquaintance with the learned men of the 
time, by whom Lorenzo was surrounded. During this 
period he obtained the friendship of Politian, the most 
accomplished scholar of his age, by whose advice he 
executed the celebrated small bas relief of the battle of 
Hercules and the Centaurs, which at once established 
his fame as a great artist. During his studies in the 
garden of Lorenzo, a late fellow student, in a fit of envy 
at his rising greatness, or on some quarrel, struck him so 
violent a blow on the nose with a mallet, that he bore the 
mark through life. [This may be seen in the drawing.] 



MICHAEL ANGEL0. 313 

He early evinced the activity of his reflective powers, 
by his study of the parts of the human figure and the 
functions of the organs. He indeed made the anatomy 
of the human figure his great study. 

The age in which he lived was highly favorable to the 
excitement of his genius ; it was near the time of the 
revival of letters, the fine arts, and the invention of print- 
ing, which followed in quick succession. It was indeed 
mainly his genius that called into new life the arts of 
painting and sculpture, and it was he, united with Brun- 
deschi and Bramante, who was destined to raise those 
splendid fabrics, which rival the greatest monuments of 
ancient architecture. Before this time, the works of 
antiquity were little appreciated, but Lorenzo and others 
had recently formed a collection of them. These were 
well calculated to excite the reverence, wonder, and 
ideality of Michael Angelo. 

When the Medici were driven from Florence, he was 
obliged to leave the city, and went to Bologna, and thence 
to Venice. At Bologna he executed a statue for one of 
the public buildings. He was assisted here by Aldro- 
vandi, an officer of state, who became his patron, and 
induced him to read Petrarch, Dante, and Boccacio 
aloud. He then returned to Florence, and there exe- 
cuted a sleeping Cupid. He was afterwards, in conse- 
quence of this, invited by St. Giorgio, the purchaser of 
this, to go to Rome. The next two works were a Cupid 
and a Bacchus, then a group consisting of a Virgin and 
dead Christ, called Pieta, which was placed in the 
chapel of St. Peter's. He then returned to Florence, and 
there cut the celebrated statue of David with a sling in 
his hand, from a spoiled block of marble, out of which 
27 



314 



PHRENOLOGY. 



some other sculptor had begun to cut a statue; for 
this he received 400 ducats. The limits of this article 
will not permit even a full enumeration of the works he 
executed. 

On Julius II. succeeding to the papal crown, Michael 
Angelo was invited by him to Rome, to be employed in 
executing a magnificent sepulchral monument. The 
original design was vast, and suited to his genius, but it 
became difficult to find a site for its reception. It was 
suggested that such a monument was worthy of having a 
chapel built on purpose to receive it. Julius considering 
it could not be well placed in the old basilica of St. Peter's, 
it was at last determined that the church itself should be 
rebuilt, and hence the origin of the present church of 
St. Peter's, the most stupendous structure that the art of 
man ever produced. The sublime and sombre cast of 
Michael Angelo's genius, admirably fitted him to erect 
the monumental structures for those chapels, which, from 
their vastness and grandeur, were well calculated to fill 
the minds of the ignorant worshippers with wonder, reve- 
rence, and sublimity. 

As the figures for the monument proceeded, they ob- 
tained universal admiration. The favor shown Michael 
Angelo produced him enemies, and his disposition, which 
was independent, unsuspecting, and somewhat haughty, 
[self-esteem, firmness, and conscientiousness,] was not 
such as to guard him against these evil machinations. 
By the pope's directions he always applied to him for the 
money requisite for the work : on the arrival of some 
marble from Carrara, payment of the freight being re- 
quired, he went to the Vatican, but finding the pope 
engaged, he returned and paid it out of his own money, 



MICHAEL ANC.ELO. 315 

thinking to be reimbursed immediately; but on returning 
to the pope he was repulsed by a groom of the chamber, 
and refused admittance, apparently, nevertheless, without 
the direction of Julius. He went home in anger, and, 
ordering his servants to sell off all his effects, fled 
immediately to Florence. Julius sent for him to return, 
but to no effect. He then sent a brief to the Florentine 
republic, requesting that he might be sent back. [Here 
is combativeness, self-esteem, firmness, and conscien- 
tiousness.] This he disregarded, and two others fol- 
lowed, more authoritative than the former. Dreading 
the anger of Julius, he determined, in consequence of an 
invitation from Bajazet II., to proceed to Constantino- 
ple to superintend the erection of a bridge between the 
city and Pera. 

But he was prevailed on to listen to the pope's wishes, 
and to insure safety on his return, was invested with the 
title of ambassador from the Florentine State. But the 
pope had now become enraged, and on meeting him when 
he was then just entering Bologna as a conqueror, at the 
head of his army, manifested great anger and impa- 
tience, and Angelo begged his pardon and clemency. 
The pope, considering that the artist was ignorant of all 
but art, took him into favor, and he returned to his ser- 
vice. The pope, at Bologna, where he then was, ordered 
him to execute a bronze statue of himself. After finish- 
ing this, he returned to Rome to work upon the monu- 
ment. But Bramante, one of the architects of St. Peter's, 
who conceiving the pope inclined more to sculpture than 
to architecture, persuaded him to abandon for a while the 
completion of the monument, urging that it'was ill-omened 
to prepare a tomb during his life. It was he who sug- 



316 PHRENOLOGY. 

gested that Michael Angelo should be employed in 
painting the vault of the Sistine chapel. Julius was not 
sorry for an excuse to change his employment, and set 
him about this new undertaking. Unused to work in 
fresco, he met with many difficulties, but executed his task 
in a manner which fully sustained his previous reputation. 
Just before the pope's death, Michael Angelo was ordered 
to complete the monument or mausoleum, but Leo X., 
the successor of Julius, again took him from his work, 
even in tears. From this time this splendid genius was 
required to spend nearly nine years at the quarries, in an 
employment suited to the talents of any stone-mason. 

During the reign of Adrian VII. he returned to his 
work upon the monument of his patron Julius, but was 
again interrupted by his successor Clement VII. Clement 
was early plunged in war, and, in those which succeeded, 
Michael Angelo was involved in the troubles of con- 
tending parties, and at last took sides against the family 
of his patron, and was appointed by the Florentine 
government a military architect, or engineer, to super- 
intend the erection of the necessary defensive public 
works, and displayed equal skill and patriotism through- 
out the siege. He, however, became suspicious of other 
leading persons, whom he informed against, and, as his 
warnings were disregarded, and he considered himself 
treated with contempt, he withdrew secretly from Flor- 
ence to Venice. 

He afterwards was induced to return, where he re- 
mained until the downfall of the city and the treaty of 
peace, and was at last brought anew under the patronage 
of Clement, and after this of Paul the III., where he was 
permitted to finish the monument to Julius, but in a man- 
ner much more limited than the original design. 



MICHAEL ANGELO. 317 

After this he painted the Last Judgment, and as age 
prevented his continuing to paint in fresco, he returned 
again to work in marble, saying, " that he found the ex- 
ercise of the mallet and chisel necessary to keep him in 
health." 

At the age of seventy-one we find this wonderful man 
commencing a new career in architecture, taking the 
charge of the building of St. Peter's. Bramante, Ra- 
phael, and San Gallo were successively appointed to con- 
duct this mighty undertaking, and removed by death. 
Michael Angelo was then appointed, and gave in the 
design from which the present building was erected. It 
was with reluctance that he undertook so heavy a 
charge. It was indeed only at the express command of 
the pope, and on the unusual condition that he should 
receive no salary, as he accepted the office purely from 
devotional feelings. He also made it a condition, that he 
should be absolutely empowered to discharge any per- 
sons employed in the works, and supply their places at 
his pleasure. To the independent and upright feelings, 
which led him to insist on this latter clause, the factious 
opposition, which harassed the remainder of his life, is 
partly to be ascribed. Repeated attempts were made to 
remove him by those, who found his honesty and inde- 
pendence in their way. He would willingly have yield- 
ed, but for his sense of the greatness of the undertaking 
in which he was employed. During the life of Paul, and 
through four succeeding pontificates, he held the situation 
of chief architect; and before his death, in Feb. 1563-4, 
the cupola was raised, and the principal features of the 
building unalterably determined. 
27* 



318 



PHRENOLOGY. 



It is said of him, "that sublimity of conception, gran- 
deur of form, and breadth of manner, are the elements of 
his style. As painter, as sculptor, as architect, he at- 
tempted and, above any other man, succeeded to unite 
magnificence of plan and endless variety of subordinate 
parts, with the utmost simplicity. His line is uniformly 
grand : character and beauty were admitted only as far 
as they could be made subservient to grandeur. To give 
the appearance of perfect ease to the most perplexing 
difficulty was the exclusive power of Michael Angelo. 
He is the inventor of epic painting, in that sublime circle 
of the Sistine chapel, which exhibits the origin, the 
progress, and the final dispensation of theocracy. He 
has personified motion in the group of the Cartoon of 
Pisa; embodied sentiment on the monuments of San Lo- 
renzo ; unravelled the features of meditation in the Pro- 
phets and sibyls of the Sistine chapel ; and, in the Last 
Judgment, with every attitude that varies the human 
body, traced the master-trait of every passion that sways 
the human heart. The fabric of St. Peter's, scattered 
into an infinity of jarring parts by Bramante and his suc- 
cessors, he concentrated ; suspended the cupola, and to 
the most complex, gave the air of the most simple edi- 
fices." 



GEORGE MORELAND. 



319 



CHAPTER XLV. 

GEORGE MORELAND, A PAINTER. 

Figure XXII. — Head of Moreland. 




In this head we readily recognise the predominance 
of the basilar region, or large size of the propensities 
and the small size of the sentiments. Cautiousness, 
approbativeness, conscientiousness, and ideality are quite 
moderate. He would not be stimulated by ambition, or 
sense of duty, or anxiety for the future. He would, 
therefore, have nothing but his lower propensities to 
excite him to exertion. His tastes and sympathies, too, 
would be congenial to those in whom the same feelings 
predominate, and his sense of the beautiful would be 



320 PHRENOLOGY. 

insufficient to elevate his taste. The strength of his per- 
ceptive organs (nearly all of which appear to have been 
large) would enable him to give mere likeness to his 
paintings, without any thing of the beautiful or sublime. 

It is said he had talents as an artist of a high order, 
but his tastes and feelings were exceedingly low and 
grovelling. It is recorded of him in the Lives of Eminent 
Artists, by Cunningham, that " at four, five, and six years 
of age he made drawings worthy of ranking him among 
the common race of students, and, as a mere copyist, his 
fame had gone far and wide before the age of sixteen ; 
but he associated with idle and profligate boys, and spent 
the money earned by his pencil at the tap-rooms with 
pot-boys, and hostlers, singing his song and cracking his 
jokes. Till he was seventeen his father received the 
greatest share of the money for his services ; from this 
time he was left to support himself. His entire want of 
taste and judgment appeared in his dress, which was the 
extreme of foppishness. His skill of hand was .great, 
and his facility wondrous, while his oddity of dress, his 
extreme youth, and the story of his early studies attracted 
curiosity and attention, — and sitters came — the wealthy 
and the beautiful. But the painter loved low company, 
and all that was polished or genteel was the object of his 
implacable dislike. Pleasure could not be purchased 
without money ; and to get money it was necessary to 
work ; and during his short career he painted four thou- 
sand pictures, most of them of great merit. They were 
mostly produced under the stimulus of intoxication, and 
the strong excitement of immediate payment. He had 
a look at once sagacious and sensual, and his character 
was essentially vulgar. He loved all kinds of company, 



CLARA FISHER TALENTS OF AN ACTRESS. >)'2\ 

save that of gentlemen; it gave him pain to imitate the 
courtesies and decencies of life. A* an artist, he is 
original and alone; his thoughts are natural, and he 
never paints above the most ordinary capacity, and gives 
an air of truth and reality to whatever he touches. He 
was the rustic painter for the people ; his scenes are 
familiar to every eye, and his name on every lip." How 
strikingly do we see in all this the absence of ideality, 
conscientiousness, and love of approbation, and indeed 
the general predominance of the propensities. 

From this disagreeable description, let us turn back to 
the noble image of Michael Angelo, and who shall say 
that all the difference in them resulted from education 
and external circumstances ! 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



MRS. MAEDER, BETTER KNOWN AS MISS CLARA FISHER. — 
TALENT AN ACTRESS. 

Mr. Combe has given a front outline view of Miss 
Clara Fisher, in his System of Phrenology, as illustrative 
of the organ of imitation. I have never seen her, but 
have carefully examined a print published by Bourne of 
New York, from which the present engraving was copied ; 
and from this it would appear that she has a remarkably 
full development of the frontal organs in general, such 
as characterize the heads of precocious children. Be- 
nevolence, marvellousness, and ideality are large, and 



322 PHRENOLOGY. 

Figure XXIII. — Head of Clara Fisher. 




imitation is particularly so; the intellectual organs are 
also in general large, especially the two rows of percep- 
tive organs. Her temperament is sanguine and nervous, 
and her person T)elow the medium size. 

I notice among the perceptive organs eventuality, indi- 
viduality, time, tune, and language, as particularly large. 
I am informed by a gentleman, who knows her public 
history well, that she first appeared on the London stage 
at the age of seven, and soon attracted great attention. 
Almost from the first, she was entirely unlimited in 
range of character, taking both male and female parts in 
tragedy, comedy, and the opera. When at about the age 
of eight she played the character of Richard III., and 
many other parts equally difficult and apparently unsuited 
to her age and sex. She came to America at about the 



GOTTFRIED A MURDERER BY POISON. 323 

age of twelve, and appeared as a star throughout the 
principal cities. At this time she appeared more fre- 
quently id several pieces expressly written fur herself, 
and played in some half dozen juvenile characters, both 
male and female. She was indeed a sort of Matthews in 
miniature. 

She is one of those rare cases of great precocity, which 
have not disappointed the expectations of mature years. 
She is said to have, in a remarkable degree, the power of 
wholly losing herself in the character she represents, — 
a power which requires great activity of secretiveness, 
marvellousness, imitation, individuality, and the percep- 
tive organs generally. Although imitation is large, it is 
but one of the faculties to which she is indebted for her 
success. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

G. M. GOTTFRIED, A MURDERER BY POISON. 

The figure on the succeeding page is introduced for 
the purpose, not only of illustrating the very small size of 
some and very large size of other organs, but one in 
which the greatest crimes may be accounted for, by sim- 
ply looking at a few points. It is not one of the low 
class of ruffian heads, yet it is one of those cases in 
which it is very difficult to draw the line between extreme 
moral depravity and partial insanity. The head above 
the band, extending from the eye-brows to the top of the 
ear in the profile, and running between the ears in the 



324 PHRENOLOGY. 

back view, was denuded of the integuments before the 
cast was taken, so that the figure represents the bare 
scull. 

Figure XXIV. — Two Views of the Head of Gott- 
fried. 




The Edinburgh Phrenological Journal giv es her devel. 
opments, so far as it is important to know them. From 
destructiveness to the same, without the integuments, is 
6 inches. The measure at secretiveness is the same. 
Destructiveness, secretiveness, and firmness are the most 
prominent organs, benevolence and conscientiousness are 
the most deficient. Here is a combination which would 
make her a demon in disposition, and give her nerve to 
execute, and power to conceal whatever she would at- 
tempt. The other points of her organization are such, 
that she would desire to carry the appearance of decency 
and outward morality. Her organs of reverence, love of 
approbation, and self-esteem were large. She would not 
therefore be low and brutish ; she would not seek to go 
above her rank, and she would not be satisfied to fall 
below it. She is therefore one of those characters which 
may sometimes be found among the respectable classes, 
who commit secret crimes without compunction, and still 
maintain their position in society. 



GOTTFRIED A MURDERER BY POISON. 325 

G. M. Gottfried was a resident of Bremen, and had 
lived in apparently easy circumstances in the middle 
ranks of life; her house was elegantly furnished, and her 
dress and demeanour that of a lady ; her reputation was 
untainted, and the frequent deaths that appeared in her 
house were ascribed to heavy and unaccountable visita- 
tions of God. 

At twenty she married a rich but intemperate widower, 
whom she disliked. Soon after this marriage she met 
Gottfried, her future husband, at a ball, and from that 
day all her wishes were directed towards him. She now 
began to color her cheeks with rouge ; hours were spent 
before her glass ; and from her toilet she hurried to her 
kitchen window, and remained there to see him pass to 
his counting-room; but Gottfried took no notice of her. 
She had by her first husband four children, three of which 
lived, but her passion for Gottfried continued unabated. 
The first act of a secret and criminal nature was the 
opening her husband's desk to get money. She next 
opened that of a gentleman who lodged in her house. 
Gottfried was intimate with her husband, and she saw him 
frequently, but she now became enamoured of another 
visitor, Kasson. 

By this time she began to wish her husband dead, as 
he was always in bad health. As his life was an incum- 
brance to himself and an impediment to her, she began 
to feel as if it would be no great sin to help him out of 
the world ! In short, she soon poisoned him. 

Gottfried loved her, but was unwilling to marry her 

because she had children. Her mother came to live with 

her, and she soon poisoned her. Soon after, she poisoned 

her youngest child, by spreading arsenic, on a piece of 

28 



326 PHRENOLOGY. 

cake which had been presented it at the burial of the 
grandmother : in eight days more she poisoned her eldest 
child ; two weeks after, she poisoned her father ; in ten 
weeks more she poisoned the only remaining child ; she 
next poisoned a brother. 

She thought every obstacle now removed, but Gottfried 
would not marry her ; she, however determined to marry 
him, and succeeded in obtaining his promise, but she 
began to dislike him for his refusal, and seized an oppor- 
tunity and poisoned him ; and while on his death-bed, she 
sent for a priest to marry them, so that she might make 
sure of the property ! 

She seemed now to delight in murder, and the slightest 
cause seemed enough to decide upon the death or life of 
any of her relations. She next poisoned her acquaint- 
ances, without visible motive. At last she was discovered, 
convicted, and executed. 

This career of crime and concealment was carried on 
for more than twenty years, commencing with the unlaw- 
ful indulgence of a passion for one man when she was 
the wife of another, and then in breaking into her hus- 
band's desk, stealing his money, then stealing from others, 
and then poisoning. Is it not reasonable to suppose that 
in this time the organs of secretiveness and destructive- 
ness, which now appear so prominent, increased in size, 
and that the very distinct depression at conscientious- 
ness had been produced by the great activity of firmness 
and cautiousness, and the constant disregard and neglect 
of the exercise of conscientiousness? It was unlawful 
love, and not destructiveness, which furnished the motive to 
the first murder. But in time, so active had secretiveness 
and destructiveness become, that she seemed to delight in 
her monstrous acts. 



BLACK HAWK AN INDIAN CHIEF. 



327 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

BLACK HAWK, AN INDIAN CHIEF AND WARRIOR. 

Figure XXV. — Head of Black Hawk. 
13 




1. General form of head, &,c. This head and face 
have the characteristic form of the red man ; but with so 
much of the balancing organization of the better class 
of white men, that in him you see the Indian charac- 
ter in its best light. The head is large, and is such as 
should belong to a chief or leader. He could never act 
a second part. 

2. Domestic feelings. — From the portrait of him we 
cannot determine the size of the organs of the domestic 
feelings. He never had but one wife, and had several 
children. Besides this, he adopted a child of his friend. 



328 PHRENOLOGY. 

He remarks upon losing two children, " this was a hard 
stroke, because I loved my children." And he gave all 
he had away, blacked his face, and fasted and lived in 
retirement two years, drinking water but once a day and 
eating boiled corn at sunset. Notwithstanding the wan- 
dering life of an Indian warrior, he loved the place of his 
birth. When about to be driven from his village, he says, 
" I would rather lay my bones with my fathers than remove 
for any consideration." 

But his love of glory (approbativeness) acting through 
his large combativeness and destructiveness, is the ab- 
sorbing passion of his soul. If we will believe his story, 
he distinguished himself by wounding an enemy at fif- 
teen. Before he was thirty-five he had been in thirteen 
or fourteen battles, and killed with his own hand thirty- 
five. These were all killed in battle, for, says he, " it is 
not brave, but cowardly, to kill an unarmed and helpless 
enemy." 

His higher sentiments seem to have been active, es- 
pecially firmness, reverence, and marvellousness. From 
his complaints of the whites, it would seem that consci- 
entiousness is not deficient. " The Americans make 
fair promises, but never fulfil." He believed in dreams 
and supernatural communications, and frequently con- 
sulted the Prophet. He constantly speaks with great 
reverence of the Good Spirit, whom he seems to have 
individualized very distinctly. He had very little cau- 
tiousness in his character. 



DR. GALL. 



329 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

BRIEF NOTICE OF DR. GALL. 

Figure XXVI. — Head of Dr. Gall. 




Dr. Gall is thus described by a gentleman who visited 
him in 1826. " I found him," says the gentleman, " a 
man of middle stature, of an outline well proportioned, — 
he was thin and rather pallid, and possessed a capacious 
head and chest. The peculiar brilliancy of his penetrat- 
ing eye left an indelible impression. His countenance 
was remarkable ; his features strongly marked, and rather 
large, yet devoid of coarseness. The general impression 
that a first glance was calculated to convey would be, 
28* 



330 PHRENOLOGY. 

that Dr. Gall was a man of originality and depth of mind, 
possessing much urbanity, with some self-esteem and 
inflexibility of design. 5 ' 

His organization, it will be seen from the drawing, 
indicates the firm, honest, independent, kind-hearted 
man, who had great powers of observation and a quick 
perception of the relation of cause and effect. He was 
admirably endowed by nature for a discoverer in science, 
but very little suited to the promulgation of his doctrines. 
He was learned yet unostentatious, and careless of what 
was said of him. There was never a particle of quack- 
ery about him. It would give me great delight to give a 
full account of his life and discoveries, but I have room 
here only to record a few facts concerning him. He 
was born March 9th, 1757, of respectable parents ; and 
received his medical education at the medical school of 
Vienna. From early age he was given to observation, as 
appears from the history of his discovery of the organ of 
Language. He became physician of the Lunatic Hospital 
in Vienna, and had charge of many of the hospitals and 
other public institutions, requiring medical superinten- 
dence. His house was open to any, who wished to con- 
verse with him upon his peculiar views. In 1796, he 
delivered his first private lectures. He spoke then of the 
brain as the general organ of the mind, of the necessity 
of considering the brain as divided into different special 
organs, and of the possibility of determining those organs 
by the development of individual parts of the brain, ex- 
hibited in the external configuration of the head. He also 
spoke of several organs which he had then discovered. 
The facts which he from time to time collected occupy 
several volumes, and are soon to be given to the Ameri- 



DK. GALL. 331 

can public. In 1802, the Austrian government issued 
an order prohibiting all private lectures, unless under 
license. Dr. Gall ceased lecturing till 1805, when he 
and Spurzheim commenced travelling and lecturing to- 
gether. Having visited most of the principal dies of 
Europe, they in 1807 arrived in Paris, where in November 
Dr. Gall, assisted by Dr. Spurzheim, delivered his first 
course of public lectures in that city. Here Dr. Gall 
continued until his death, in 1828, in the 72d year of his 
age. Here, too, he acquired an honorable reputation as 
a physician, writer, and philosopher. His remains were 
followed to the grave by an immense concourse of friends 
and admirers, five of whom pronounced discourses over 
it, as is the custom in France. 

The character of Spurzheim is so generally known, 
that in a work of this kind I must omit any particular 
history of him, and will close this article by quoting a 
parallel drawn by a writer in the Phrenological Journal. 
We might say of Dr. Gall, that he possessed the greater 
genius, while Dr. Spurzheim is the most acute reasoner. 
[Gall had the larger causality and Spurzheim the larger 
comparison.] To the former we are indebted for the 
discovery of a new doctrine, to the latter for its adapta- 
tion to useful purposes. Gall astonished us by the vast- 
ness. of his schemes of mental philosophy, Spurzheim by 
the attractions with which he adorned it. Gall possessed 
all the genius that commands respect, and Spurzheim the 
amiability of disposition that ever ensures it. 



332 



PHRENOLOGY. 



CHAPTER L. 



REMARKS ON THE BEST METHOD OF NOTICING SOME OF 
THE PERCEPTIVE ORGANS. 

Many people say that they can easily see the location 
of the large organs, but declare their inability to give any 
judgments about the small organs, such as size, weight, 
color, order, and number. To assist such, as far as I am 
able, I have given the following enlarged view of an eye 
and eyebrow, by which the situation of these organs will 
appear quite distinct. 

Figure XXVI. — An Eye. 




The organs of Size and Weight and Resistance are to 
be noticed as large, by a prominence or an enlargement 
of this region of the forehead, making a slight angle at 
the centre of the eyebrow, and seeming to form a large 
root to the nose. When Color is large, the eyebrow is 
greatly arched, and also prominent. Order and Number 
when large show an angle from the centre outward ; and 
these sometimes appear as prominences. 



CHANGE OF CHARACTER AND TALENTS. 333 



CHAPTER LI. 

CHANGE OF CHARACTER AND TALENTS, AND A SIMULTANE- 
OUS CHANGE OF THE FORM OF THE HEAD. 

Great changes in moral character and talents some- 
limes manifest themselves in individuals, and the question 
is put to the Phrenologist, whether the head changes to a 
corresponding extent ? This question requires a very can- 
did and considerate answer. 

1. It is important to remark upon the nature of the 
change which takes place in character, before we attempt 
to account for it, by a change in the size of organs. 

The first change is that which takes place before the 
individual arrives at maturity. During this forming period 
of character, great changes often take place, especially in 
those who are about equally inclined to good and to evil 
practices. The different parts of character develope 
themselves just as circumstances draw them out at the 
usual age of their manifestation. More than twenty-five 
of the primitive faculties show themselves during the first 
eighteen months, others appear at subsequent periods, and 
different groups claim ascendency at different times. As 
to all the changes of this period, there can be no question, 
that the shape of the head will change as the charac- 
ter changes. However, at this period, the organs change 
much in relative activity, without an equally corresponding 
change in size. Those organs which have never been 
excited by their appropriate objects will have been less 
active, than those which have had abundant exercise; 
but commence the exercise of the organs by the stimulus 
of their own objects, and you draw them at once into 



334 PHRENOLOGY. 

activity, and as they become active the structure improves 
as well as increases in size. We must not suppose that 
there is no other difference in cerebral organs but that of 
size. The differences in perfection of structure, and 
tendency to activity, arising from habits of exercise, are 
quite as great as those of activity. Hence, judgments 
formed of the strength of particular faculties, without 
inquiry as to the education they have received, are liable 
to error. 

2. Alterations, which take place in the character of 
individuals after they arrive at maturity, are seldom any 
more than a change in the objects on which the faculties 
act. When this is the case, no change in the form of the 
head is to be expected. The faculty which respects tal- 
ents, office, rank, and wealth, adores the Deity, and he 
that has turned from the worship of idols to the worship of 
the only true God, has brought into action no new organ ; 
and unless he worship with more fervor, his reverence will 
not be increased in activity. 

3. Changes in the form of head are only to be expected 
where there has been a great change in the degree of ac- 
tivity of organs. If organs, which have been very active, 
cease to be so, while others, which have been idle, are 
drawn into great activity, then, in a few years, we may in 
many instances be able to notice a change. This em- 
braces the several classes of cases. 

1. Where an individual is not advanced beyond the me- 
ridian of life, and has become very thoughtful and studious 
for a few years, giving great exercise to the reflective or- 
gans, they will perceptibly increase in size. There are sev- 
eral facts which go to prove this. So, where individuals 
have been suddenly changed from situations, which did not 
give much exercise and excitement to the perceptive or- 



CHANGE OF CHARACTER AND TALENTS. 335 

gans, to those which required great exercise and activity 
of them, v/e may expect a sudden growth of those organs. 

But these cases are so rare, and the changes are bo 
gradual, that much pains should be taken to collect the 
facts with accuracy. Mr. Deville has been engaged in 
taking casts of individuals at different periods and ages, 
for. the purpose of making comparisons. 

I have several facts founded, not upon observations made 
from comparison of casts, but still they are such as to be 
entitled to our confidence. A young artist of my acquaint- 
ance had formerly been a dealer in dry goods, and a few- 
years since commenced the business of portrait painting. 
He had been absent for several years from his mother ; when 
on a visit to her, she called him up to her, and observing 
every part of his countenance carefully, said, " Your fore- 
head has altered in form since I saw you, all the lower 
part of it seems to be pushed out." This was the careful 
observation of a fond mother, when tracing out the linea- 
ments of a beloved son. It was no doubt true. Nearly all 
the perceptive organs are now very decidedly large ; and he 
says they have increased in size, since he commenced his 
new vocation. Young men in cities, it will be found, have 
greater power and activity in the perceptive organs, than 
those who have always been in country situations. There 
is a constantly changing succession of objects in cities, 
which give ample scope and stimulus to these organs. 
These rapid changes are unfavorable to quiet reflection, 
hence the knowing organs acquire a great ascendancy. 

I have noticed in very many instances, that experienced 
navigators have the organs of locality very prominent, and 
probably in consequence of great exercise of them. So 
with blind people, these organs become very large. It is 



336 PHRENOLOGY. 

/' 

the case of a blind man in Boston, who travels in every 
part of the city without a guide. 

3. A third class of cases is that in which a change takes 
place in the feelings, as where some one or two feelings 
become exceedingly and almost morbidly active for many 
years, as in the case of destructiveness and secretiveness 
in G. M. Gottfried. Also, in consequence of some creat 
shock to some feeling, as to adhesiveness, self-esteem, hope, 
or love of approbation, there may be a change in the form 
of the head in the regions of those organs. 

I have in hundreds of instances seen very striking de- 
pressions in the heads of persons of mature years, but sel- 
dom in the heads of children. These depressions are most 
frequent at the localities of those organs, which are most 
liable to great neglect or suffering. 

It is not to be supposed that changes in the form of the 
scull externally, will be co-extensive with every slight 
change in the habits of thought and feeling. The organs 
may change greatly in activity, without such a change in 
volume externally as to be noticeable. The organs most 
used may be contiguous to others most neglected. In such 
a case, the one would be diminished as the other increased. 
Neither protuberances nor depressions are to be looked for 
in ordinary cases. The practised phrenologist does not need 
them to enable him either to find the location of the organs, 
or the innate dispositions and talents. They are rather to 
be regarded as rare occurrences and curiosities, which 
have enabled Gall, Spurzheim, and others, to conjecture 
the location of organs, which have since been proved by 
thousands of well observed facts, not less conclusive, al- 
though less peculiar. 






























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